


You Are the One I am Lit For

by OurImpavidHeroine



Series: The Abdication of Hou-Ting LIV or: How Wu Learned to Stop Being Foolish and Love the Detective [12]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Multi, Non-Canon Relationship, Non-Comic Compliant, One Shot Collection, Post-Canon, Post-Series, Romance, Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2017-10-17
Packaged: 2018-05-15 03:54:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5770291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OurImpavidHeroine/pseuds/OurImpavidHeroine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of one-shots for my in-universe characters with a focus on love. Some will be sweet and some will be steamy, which is why this work is rated the way it is.</p><p>Most of these are inspired by lyrics, poems or quotes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Thousand Miles

**Author's Note:**

> The title of the work is taken from a poem by Lucille Clifton.
> 
> To A Dark Moses
> 
> you are the one  
> i am lit for.  
> Come with your rod  
> that twists  
> and is a serpent.  
> i am the bush.  
> i am burning  
> i am not consumed.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Republic City  
> Asami and Korra
> 
> "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton.

Asami woke to the sound of Naga's enthusiastic barking. She rolled over and glanced at her bedside clock; it was just after two in the morning. "Naga!" she called, but Naga kept up her noise. Asami swung herself out of bed and belted on her robe, not bothering with slippers. She automatically took up the electric glove she kept next to the bed. It's not that she seriously thought that someone would actually try to break into her penthouse above Future Industries; there was a guard downstairs, for one thing, and for another, who would want to incur the wrath of the Avatar? But Asami was a woman who always believed in covering all of your bases.

"Naga?" she called, and she made her way out the bedroom, peering into the gloom. "Girl?" Naga's barking had taken on a frenzied tone, and Asami made her way down the stairs that connected the loft bedroom to the rest of the penthouse as fast as she dared. "Naga? What is it?"

There was the sound of something hitting the floor with a loud thud and Naga's barks turned into a combination of whining and enthusiastic yips. "Naga! Shhh! You'll wake her up."

"Too late," Asami said, but she was smiling. She walked forward and toggled the lights. Korra was laying on her back next to the elevator doors that served as their front entryway, a delighted Naga slobbering all over her, her pack discarded next to her. Korra grinned up at her and got a very large and wet polarbear dog tongue in her mouth for her trouble.

"Aaaaaugh! Naga!"

Asami laughed. "I thought you weren't going to be back until next week." She slid the glove off of her hand and put it on one of the end tables near the elevator. 

"Well, things wrapped up faster than I thought. I hitched a ride with a freighter."

"So that's the smell I am smelling."

"Eau de Fish. Pretty popular smell where I come from. Not as good as engine grease, but hey, what can you do?" Korra grabbed at Naga's ears and shook her head back and forth affectionately. "I should probably take a shower."

"Probably," Asami agreed. She couldn't stop smiling.

"I thought about trying to call you to let you know when I was coming but I thought I'd surprise you."

"Color me surprised." 

Korra grinned at her, shoving Naga's head out of the way. "So I guess you have to be work first thing tomorrow morning, huh?"

"Normally, yes. But tomorrow morning I have a very important meeting. Last minute thing. I'll send a message to my assistant and let her know that my morning is completely booked and I can't possibly be disturbed." Asami gestured at the pneumatic tube set next to the elevator doors. "In fact, if you go and take a shower, I'll do that right now." 

Korra sat up. "It'll be a quick shower."

Asami raised an eyebrow. "It'll be a quick note."

Korra sprang up easily from the floor. "Better get to writing, then." With a wink she raced past Asami and clattered up the stairs. Asami huffed her amusement and walked forward to scratch Naga's chin. "I know, girl. I'm happy, too." Naga's tail thumped joyfully on the floor as Asami took up pen and paper and quickly jotted down a note, her heart light.


	2. Pick the Rare Flower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zaofu  
> Wing and Nuo
> 
> "Pick The Rare Flower," by Kate Bush.

Nuo woke the way she always did; her eyes wide open, her senses quickly taking in all of the information to be had. Where? The cottage once used by Wing's grandmother. Who? Her darling darling Wing, of course. She turned her head slightly to see him still sleeping next to her, his lips twitching gently. Why? The slight ache deep into her sex affirmed what she'd done the night before. Done three times, in fact. Nuo smiled.

The girls at school used to talk about the first time they'd lie with a man. (Or a woman in Fan's case, Fan had always been very clear about where her interests lay.) There had been a lot of high-pitched giggling, well-heeled and advantaged schoolgirls pretending more sophistication than what they really had. Nuo understood how it worked in the houses these girls had grown up in; sex was _making love_ and it was done discreetly and tastefully behind closed doors. In a bed. In the dark. With a nice husband from a good family, properly vetted and approved.

Nuo was from the Lower Ring. Down there it was _fucking_ , it was a skirt thrown up around hips and being ground against the bricks of a back alley with someone that made your blood burn. 

Wing was nobility the likes of which most of the girls at her school couldn't even hope for. Rich. Esteemed. Privileged. Educated. Well-mannered. His was a family legacy of bending that was only matched by the airbending family from Republic City or the Firelords themselves. He was nothing that little Nuo, daughter of a washer woman and a bricklayer could have ever dreamed of. He was a tremendous catch, a boy that even the fastidious mothers of the Upper Ring couldn't find fault with. 

She loved him so much. So much that she was a little frightened of it. Her! Nuo! She was fearless, she was determined and strong. She wasn't afraid of anything! But she loved this boy sleeping next to her, this boy with his soft and rumpled curls, with his green eyes and his strong hands that he always washed so carefully so that the dirt under his fingernails from his gardening wouldn't show, oh, this boy with the smile that lit his face whenever he saw her. She loved him the way the only way she knew how, with every fierce exhalation in her body, with a ferocious and all-consuming passion. She didn't know any other way to be. The very idea of losing him made her feel panicky, made her heart beat an unsteady tempo, made her throat close up. He was so sweet. So kind, a dreamer. He saw right through the protective shell she'd put around herself, reached right through it to charm her with his kisses and his earnestness. She'd fallen so hard for him she didn't know what to do with herself. He made her feel young in a way she'd never felt, like the world was fresh and new and lovely. And he thought she was beautiful. He made her _feel_ beautiful, made her feel like she was something precious and cherished.

She was going to marry him. She was going to marry him and give him beautiful children from her body, a gift she would never give to anyone else. She was going to pour all of her energy, all of her ruthless drive into this city he clearly loved so dearly. She would build something with him that would live on for generations to come. She would do this for him. Only him. All for him.

He was splendid. She loved the interplay of muscle under his brown skin. Wing was only eighteen, younger than she was by a year. He hadn't finished growing yet, no longer awkward in that way of teenage boys but still developing the solidness of an adult man. He wasn't as tall as his father, but far broader in the way that certain earthbending men could be. She was glad he wasn't so tall. She still had to crane her neck up to look him in the eyes, but it wasn't impossible. The strength in those arms, though! He picked her up like she was nothing, like she was one of those slender willowy girls she went to school with. She was peasant stock, through and through; short, thick of thigh and wide of hip and with breasts that threatened to overspill out of every dress she ever wore. Wing had touched her everywhere last night, telling her again and again, with a voice that trembled, how beautiful she was. He'd run those strong fingers over every inch of her, kissed her generous belly with reverence, buried his face into the breasts that a schoolmate had once referred to as _hippo cow dugs_  and had suckled at her nipples until she came so hard she screamed with it. He'd grinned down at her, that irrepressible Beifong grin, and had said, "Let's do that again," and she had gasped, laughing, when he took a nipple in his mouth and bit down gently.

 _Carnal._ That's how he made her feel as well. She'd never heard anyone actually say that word; she'd read it in the romance novels that Wu loved and left laying around. But how else could she feel when he'd put his sensitive mouth to her vulva, running an experimental tongue along her clitoris, looking up at her face to see how she was reacting. She'd touched herself there before, of course; she wasn't one of those girls too embarrassed to explore her own body. She'd even stroked herself there while thinking of Wing. But nothing at all had prepared her for how his tongue would feel. She'd come again, so hard she'd been shocked to find she'd left a wet patch on the sheets. She wanted him to do it again. And again. And again. She wanted him to put her on her hands and knees and take her from behind. She wanted to take him into her mouth again, the way she'd done last night while he moaned her name over and over again and shook with it. None of the girls at school had ever talked about that, the power she'd felt, knowing that she was the cause of him grabbing at the sheets, of the sobbing breaths he was taking in desperately while begging her to stop teasing. When he'd finally spurted in her mouth she hadn't even minded, although it had surprised her. Well. She'd just have to do it again and pay more attention next time. She wanted to make it last longer for him next time.

Oh, the things she was going to do to him. Carnal things. Wicked things. Hedonistic things, things that would make him beg and scream and shake. And she'd show him how to do the same things to her, she wasn't shy. Why should she be shy? This was Wing. Her Wing. _Hers_. Hers forever.

With a nearly silent laugh she sat up and slid a leg over him, coming to rest gently on his stomach, her hair tumbling down around the both of them. He'd kept touching it, taking it between his fingers, and she'd left it loose even though she knew it would be hopelessly tangled by morning. Never mind. It'd be worth the half hour or more she'd spend trying to get a comb through it all. She was aware, as she moved against him, that she was still sticky and she was transferring all of that to his belly. Well. They could shower later. But first. First. 

Wing stirred and opened those green eyes to stare up at her, blinking a bit in surprise. "So," she said, and she couldn't keep herself from smiling.

"So," he replied, and his mouth curved up into that sweet, sweet smile.

_Hers._


	3. Time in a Bottle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Republic City  
> Lin and LoLo
> 
> "Time in a Bottle," by Jim Croce.

"I have no idea why I'm fussing so much. Your parents will like me or not. For fuck's sake, I'm in my sixties. I'm too old for this damned nonsense." Lin attacked her hair savagely with a brush.

"They'll like you. What's not to like?" LoLo sat on the bed, massaging at his knee a bit, watching her through the open door into the bathroom.

"I'm eight years older than you. I surely won't be giving them any grandchildren. That ship sailed years ago."

"They have plenty of grandchildren. Even some great-grandchildren. Trust me, Lin. They gave up hope of grandchildren from me years ago. It's nothing to do with you."

"How badly is that knee bothering you?" She stopped disciplining her hair to turn and glare at him. It was a glare that had been known to stop Triad leaders in their tracks. It had made grown men cry. LoLo, on the other hand, just shrugged.

"It's been worse."

Lin pointed the brush at him. "Don't you bullshit me."

"Finish your primping, woman. Not that you need it. You look like a million yuan, like you always do." He grinned at her.

"Hmph," she said, and tossed the brush onto the bathroom counter, taking up her tube of lipstick.  "Well excuse the life out of me for wanting to look halfway decent when I meet your parents." She applied lipstick and blotted at her lips with a tissue.

"As far as I'm concerned you always look decent."

"If you're hoping to get laid I have to tell you, I'm not in the mood."

With a small sigh LoLo stood up and walked into the bathroom, standing next to her to look at her in the mirror. She was just a hair taller than he was, something that had never bothered him in the least. He never had been the kind of man who needed to be taller than a woman to appreciate her. He'd certainly never felt the need to be somehow better than a woman he loved, not even when he'd been young and hot-headed and stupid. He was proud of the fact that Lin was a thousand times the bender than he had ever been, not to mention her former work as a police chief of an entire city. That she was a damn attractive woman was just an extra bonus as far as he was concerned. "It's not like you to get this worked up about something. What's going on?"

Lin frowned at herself in the mirror. "I just want to make a good impression. That's not too hard to understand, is it?"

"They'll like you. You make me happy and my parents aren't like your mother, you know. All they've ever wanted from all of us kids was our happiness. They are nice people. Uncomplicated. Still in love after all these years. They met when they were both sixteen, did I ever tell you that?" Lin shook her head and he wrapped an arm around her hip, tugging her closer. "My father's father had worked in the kitchens under Ozai, and his father had worked for Ozai's father, all the way back several generations. My father was pretty much a shoe-in at that point. My mother, on the other hand, came from a family of shopkeepers. She liked cooking, though, and shopkeeping didn't appeal to her. So my maternal grandparents managed to find her an apprenticeship at the palace. Which was pretty lucky, all things considered. So in comes my mother, her first day, she was all nervous and excited at the same time, told me when I was a kid that the royal kitchens were larger than her parents' shop, even. She was taken around, introduced to everyone, and put to work chopping onions, of all things. My father came in, took one look at the girl with the red nose and weeping eyes, mangling onions." LoLo laughed. "Apparently she hadn't really developed her knife skills at that point. So anyhow, my father took one look at her and he decided that he was going to marry that new girl AND teach her how to chop onions. Not in that particular order, mind." He tucked Lin's hair back behind one ear. "He always joked that my mother chopping onions got him so worked up it was no wonder he sired so many of us."

Even Lin had to smile at that. "Well, I can guess where you got your humor from, anyhow."

"They're good people. Ordinary people. They never chummed around with the Avatar or saved the world or created a new kind of bending. Hell, for that matter the flashiest my parents get with their own bending is to light a fire from across the room. They raised nine children to adulthood and we all turned out pretty well, all things considered. No criminals or deadbeats, at least. The fact that you make me happier than anyone else in my life is enough for them, believe me. I've written enough about you the past few years, they've really wanted to meet you."

"I don't know why I'm so nervous. I guess it's just that I've never actually met someone's parents before." At LoLo's look at her in the mirror she grunted. "Well, the only man I ever dated long enough to warrant a parental meeting was Tenzin, and his parents had known me since birth. It hardly counted."

"Well, can't learn any younger."

"Not helpful. Not in the slightest. Asshole."

LoLo laughed and kissed her on the cheek. "You'll see. My mother will have spent all last night and most of today making sure she's serving you the best dinner you'll ever hope to eat in the Fire Nation. My father will tell terrible jokes and ask you a thousand questions. Not because he's nosy but because he's genuinely interested. I did make them promise that for tonight it would only be the four of us. I can't make any promises about tomorrow, though. Expect my sisters to come out in full force."

"Still not helpful!"

"Look, I did insist that we would stay in a hotel and not at their home. That was a fight, let me tell you."

"I've already heard about it from Izumi as well."

"We'll go. We'll have a good dinner. My parents will be happy to meet you and will do their best to charm you, and their best is pretty good. Tomorrow we'll connect up with the rest of the family. I've got a brand new grand-nephew I'm looking forward to meeting. Everyone will like you. Look at it this way - after my second wife I could bring home an unagi and my family would be happy!"

"Did you just compare me to an unagi?"

"Woman, I do not want to die on this fine day. Not before eating whatever meal my parents are putting together, at least. I did not compare you to an unagi." He ran a thumb across the sharp blade of her nearest cheekbone before kissing her there.

"You know, if I recall correctly - and I usually recall pretty correctly - you told me at the beginning of all this that it was a no-strings attached kind of thing. And here I am in the Imperial City, getting ready to meet your parents. I'd call that strings."

LoLo looked at her in the mirror for a very long moment, his face serious for once. "Lin, I'm not a young man any longer. Hell, middle-age is passing me by more quickly than I'd like to admit. I've been married twice and divorced twice and I wasn't an innocent party in either case. When I met you I'd given up on finding anything serious. I figured I was good for a few no-strings flings for the rest of my life. Hell, when I met you I wasn't even sure what my future held. I was a navy man, working for Wu was never in my plans, I can tell you that much. It changed. You changed it. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don't care if we get married or not, I really don't. I don't care that you need to keep your own place in order to still feel independent. I did care that you were trying to keep us a secret for so long but that's over and past now. I wake up just about every morning with you and I've never been happier in my life. It was worth this spirits-damned knee getting destroyed just so that I could meet you. You're the finest woman I've ever met, Lin Beifong. Sometimes I wish I'd met you when we were still young, even though I know we would have never suited each other when we were both young. It's only because I wish I had more years with you. I don't know how many years either one of us has left - plenty, I hope - but I do know that I want to spend them all with you."

Lin looked away, mouth twisting into a grimace, her eyes filling up. "You're a fool, Lozan."

"Fool for _you_." He grinned at her, dimple flashing, his arms wrapping around her waist and turning her into his embrace. "Come on. Kiss me and then we'll go."

"Kiss you and then reapply my lipstick, you mean." She glared at him and he laughed at her.

"Whatever you say, old girl." He put both hands to her face and pulled her in for a kiss, her lips, as always, soft and sweet, the embodiment of the contradiction that was Lin Beifong. The woman he loved.


	4. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Northern Air Temple  
> Baatar and Huan and Ikki
> 
> "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" by The Police.

"Huan! Huan, I'm back!" Ikki's voice called through the long rough stone corridor that led from Blue's cavern into their bedroom. "Are you there? Can you help me with her saddle?"

"Okay," Huan called back, and he obediently put down the handful of metal that he was making into something. Baatar wasn't quite sure what, yet. Huan had been fucking with it all day, and it still looked like an unformed blob to him. Not that he was going to say as much. Huan was sensitive about his art. Huan glanced over at him, a quick darting look before he stood up. "You could come and help."

"Don't think I'd be welcome," he answered, and moved his protractor over slightly before marking the paper with his pen.

"Maybe you could say something nice."

He looked up at him, cocking his head to the side. "Like what?"

Huan shrugged. "I don't know. I'm the wrong person to ask about that." He stood there for a minute, fidgeting, his fingers twisting together. "Could you try? Okay?"

He sighed and stood up. "Fine. I will try. For _you_. She's going to take my head off no matter what I say, you know. She doesn't like me." Huan stood there stubbornly, eyes to the floor. "Come on, before she gets mad at both of us. Having her mad at me is enough for the whole mountain." He gave Huan a very gentle push towards the door, following him as Huan made his way into Blue's cavern.

"Guess what?" Ikki said as they entered, her quick smile lighting up her face, "I found...oh." The smile dropped. "I only called for Huan."

"Right," he said, and turned on his heel to walk out. Not today. He was not in the mood for this today. Huan reached out quickly and grasped his wrist.

"I asked him to help. We can get it done faster that way," Huan said, and he stared at Ikki, not backing down. Huan had a stubborn streak a mile wide. He wished Ikki luck with it. None of the rest of his family had ever been able to get around it, that's for sure.

Ikki threw up her hands. "Fine. Come on, you can help me unbuckle her." Huan let go of his wrist and he went to Blue's far side, thumping her as he reached for the buckle of her harness. Blue rumbled. At least _she_ seemed to like him.

"What did you find?" Huan asked from the other side of the bison.

"They just got a shipment of fresh greens in. I picked some up. I thought we could have some for dinner tonight!" He couldn't see her from where he was positioned, but her voice sounded happy. "I got some fresh bread, too. Oh, and I have a letter for Baatar, too."

His fingers stilled on the buckle. "Who is it from?" His voice was sharp; sharper than he had meant it to be.

"Um...from your mother, I think?" Ikki's voice was apologetic. "I..." she came around Blue to stand in front of him. "I told her you were here the last time I wrote to her." He said nothing. "Look, I did tell her that maybe she could give you some space. I'm sorry, I know you're probably angry with me about it. I just really thought she should know. Your parents were so worried about where you were."

He shook his head. "I'm not angry. It's fine. It's not like it was a secret I was up here or anything." He held out his hand and she put the letter in it. He looked down at his name, written in a familiar hand and took an involuntary step backwards. The envelope skittered about in fingers that were suddenly shaking. With what? Rage? Fear? He wasn't sure. He felt light-headed suddenly and he staggered again. A distant part of him was aware that his breathing had gone harsh and ragged. He ripped the envelope open, tearing the single sheet of paper inside, his gorge rising as he read over the short note inked in bold, decisive strikes.

Ikki's face was concerned and even Huan came around from Blue's other side, his eyes wide. "Baatar? Is...are you okay?"  

"This isn't from my mother," he gritted out and he tore the letter in half, frantically grasping at it to tear it again and again, shredding it until pieces fluttered to the stone floor below. "I have to...I'm sorry. Sorry." He spun around and made his way out of the cavern, ignoring Huan's anxious queries. He took several steps towards Ikki and Huan's room and then stopped, trying to get his bearings. He couldn't seem to breathe and his legs started to give out on him.

"Baatar!" Ikki's grabbed at him as he sunk down to his knees, bracing himself up with one hand to the floor. "What's wrong? Can you tell me?" She crouched down next to him, and put a hand to his shoulder. A dim part of his mind recognized that she was using the same calm and steady voice that she used with Huan when Huan was having one of his attacks. "You say the letter wasn't from your mother?"

He managed to shake his head.

"Not your father either?"

He shook it again.

"Well, it clearly upset you, so..." her voice drifted off for a moment. "Oh, spirits. Was it from _her_? From Kuvira?"

At the sound of Kuvira's name his heart started to lurch so hard in his chest that he gave an involuntary cry of pain. He was marginally aware of Huan standing in the hallway, his hands fluttering as frantically as his heart was.

"Okay. Okay. Look, it's just a letter. She's not here. She will never be here. She's going to spend the rest of her life in prison, she is _never_ going to get out. You know this." Ikki took his free hand in hers. It was the first time she'd ever held his hand. Her hand was dry; she had strong and capable fingers, slightly rough from exposure. "Try to breathe, okay. Can you do that? Can you do it with me?" She put her other hand on his chest. "Come on, let's try together. A deep breath in. Can you try?"

He tried.

"Good, that's really good. Now push it out, that's the way. Can you sit down? On the floor? Huan, can you help him?" Between the two of them they managed to get him to sit down, his back against the stone wall. Huan sat next to him, leaning close. Ikki sat cross-legged in front of him, taking both of his hands in hers, talking to him in that same voice, soothing him. He closed his eyes and was horrified to feel a few tears escape. He let her voice wash over him, not paying attention to the words, exactly, just the tone. Ikki had a light and expressive voice, usually full of warmth and laughter. Like she was. He continued to try and calm his breathing, taking deep breaths in and letting them out, following Ikki's instructions. Ikki, speaking so calmly, holding his hands. Oh, Ikki, she was the most radiant thing he'd ever seen in his life. He wasn't a fool, he knew she had her faults like anyone else. But there was something about her, something whole, something pure, something real. Something _good_. She made him feel like there was hope, even for someone like him, the man he'd become, angry and bitter and so full of despair. She made him feel like maybe, just maybe, he could come out the other side of all of this, all of the pain he'd caused and was still causing. All the pain he had no idea how to fix. He loved her for that.

He... _what_? 

His eyes flew open to meet her eyes, a clear dark gray. She smiled, that funny little upside triangle grin of hers, all teeth and laughter, and his own mouth opened. "I...Ikki..." he blurted out before he realized what he was doing. He clamped his mouth back shut again, before he'd say something he'd regret, something foolish like, _you make me want to be a better man_ or _you make me feel like I might get past all of this_  or even, spirits help him because no one else was going to, _I think I just realized that I'm falling in love with you and that scares me more than I'd care to admit_. He took a deep breath instead. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I can't imagine what a shock that must have been. I'm the one who's sorry. I just assumed it was from your mother. I had no idea who it was really from."

"Not your fault."

"I threw the pieces off the ledge." That was Huan, his voice fierce. Both he and Ikki looked at him. Huan's mouth was set, and his hands were clenched. Huan was _angry_. He exchanged a quick look with Ikki. "She can't do it, make our lives up here go bad. We're nice here. It's nice. She can't come here with her lies and her hurt. No. This isn't her place. Never her place. This is our place." He reached out with his hands, grabbing at both Baatar and Ikki. "No. Not hers. Ours. _Ours._ "

"No. She'll never come here." Ikki squeezed both of their hands and they sat for a time in silence. "You okay now?"

"I think so. I don't...I don't know what happened to me."

"Sometimes it happens to me," Huan said, and he entwined his fingers into his brother's. "Ikki helps."

"I used to have terrible nightmares when I was a girl. I'd see Amon's mask in my dreams, wake up screaming and shaking. My mother always came into my room, without fail, and she'd just talk to me about normal things until I was able to calm down. It always helped me. I'm glad I was able to help you."

"Thanks."

"Anytime," she said, and she gave him a smile, a real smile, not one of halfhearted ones she usually gave him out of some sort of obligation to his brother. The moment was broken, however, by a plaintive bellow from the forgotten Blueberry. "Sorry, Blue!" she called down the hallway. "We're coming right now!" She hopped up nimbly and pulled Huan with her. "Come on, we better get that saddle off of her." She pulled him along behind her. Huan followed, unprotesting.

Baatar sat in the hallway and stared at his hands. _We have ourselves a bit of a situation here_ , he thought to himself, and he put his head into his hands.


	5. The Mayor of Simpleton

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Republic City  
> Bolin and Opal
> 
> "The Mayor of Simpleton," by XTC.

"This is really nice. I didn't know they would do this. Close off a room like this, I mean." Bolin looked around the table they were sitting at, set in the middle of a small private dining room, separated from the rest of the restaurant by walls and a door.

"I got the idea from Mako, actually. He finally got fed up with interruptions whenever he and Wu tried to go for dinner and asked Kwong's to do something about it."

"Yeah. It's not that I mind giving autographs, but I wish people would be nicer about it. It's not very nice to interrupt me when I'm having dinner." Bolin picked up a chopstick and twirled it around his fingers. "Although I could put on a fake mustache next time! Then it'd be like going to dinner with a spy, huh?" He waggled his eyebrows at Opal, placing the chopstick across his upper lip and dropping his voice into a rough growl. "It's on the down-low, sweetheart. No one can know who I am."

Opal cocked her head and thought about it. "You'd probably look pretty handsome with a mustache."

Bolin sat back. "Really? You think so?"

"Sure." Opal nudged his foot with hers under the table. "My hunky super spy guy."

"For you, beautiful lady, I'd grow a mustache." He twiddled the invisible end of said imaginary mustache and Opal giggled. The waiter showed up and they ordered dinner, waiting until he left before taking each other's hands across the table.

"So. I want to talk to you about something."

"My future mustache?"

Opal laughed. "We can come back to that later. No, I wanted to talk to you about moving."

Bolin frowned. "Moving? As in, moving to the syncopated beat moving? Because the last time I tried to do that I broke somebody's foot." He hunched down. "I still feel really bad about that, you know."

"That was an accident, sweetie. You didn't mean to. I wouldn't worry too much, he seemed pretty happy about getting a walk on in your latest mover, despite the broken foot. But anyhow, what I meant was moving as in moving house moving."

"Ohhhhhh. Oh, you mean _moving_ moving. Like away from the Island?" Bolin looked hopeful.

"That's exactly what I mean. Do you remember that big house up on the way to Asami's place, the one you always say looks like a cake that fell over on its side?"

"Sure." Bolin held his hands up in an approximation of a house and then let one hand fall over.  

"That's the one. Well, I made some calls and I found out that it's been for sale for some time now. No one's bought it because the house isn't livable any longer, it had far too much damage from the Colossus. Not to mention there's a lot of spirit activity around there, you know that puts a lot of people off. Thing is, though, it also has a lot of property attached to it. All of that wooded area back behind the house belongs to it. So I asked Dad to go over there with me when they were visiting last month and take a look around. Dad says that the entire house would have to come down and we'd need to build something up from scratch. He also said that there's plenty of room to build a sort of barn for Juicy, including a courtyard for Juicy to take off and land in. If we could do that then I'd be able to commute into the Island for my training. He sent some plans for us to look over."

Bolin stared at her. "Your Dad would build us a house?"

Opal smiled. "Well, that's what he does, you know. Although he wouldn't build it himself. He'd just draw up the plans, we'd have to hire a company to do the building part."

"A house? Just for us? For our own?" His eyes were wide and he put both hands to his face. "All ours?"

Opal leaned forward over the table to kiss him. "All ours. Just ours. You've got money saved from the movers, and my parents have already said they'd put in the rest. We can definitely afford it."

His eyes filled up. "Oh, I always wanted my own house. Just mine." He gave her a tremulous little smile. "Well, and yours too, of course. I never wanted to complain because Tenzin's always so nice about letting us stay on the Island, but I really really wanted to have my very own house." He closed his eyes and gave a joyful wriggle. "My house. I like how it sounds." He doffed an imaginary hat. "Hello, folks. Welcome to _my_ house. The house of me. And my lovely lady, too. Our own little house." His eyes flew open. "Oh! We could give it a name! Like...The Serene Overlook!"

Opal giggled. "It doesn't overlook anything."

"Oh, right. Um...The House of Bending!"

"That sounds like a school or something."

"Right right. Wait! I've got it!" He spread his hands out across the table. "The House Where Bolin And Opal Lived Happily Forever And Ever."

Opal's giggle morphed into a laugh. "How would we fit it on a sign, though?"

"With very small letters?"

"Hmmmm. We can decide on that later. Listen, most of the reason I was reluctant to move away from the Island was because I wasn't sure where we could live with Juicy. I wasn't about to leave him out there all by himself. But since we'd be able to have a barn for him on that property it would be fine. But there's another reason why I want us to get our own place now, though."

"There is?"

Opal nodded, smiling. "I have a present for you." She reached into her bag and pulled out a small box.

Bolin stared at it. "It's not my birthday, though. It's not your birthday, either. Is it anyone's birthday?"

Opal shook her head, still smiling. "It's not a birthday present. Well. Not yet, anyhow. Go on, open it."

Bolin took the box and untied the ribbon, opening it and taking out a pair of tiny knitted baby booties. "Um, Opal?"

"Yes?"

"These are really cute and all, but they won't fit me."

Opal's shoulders were shaking. "They aren't meant to fit you."

"Oh. Well that's a good thing because I was going to say! Boy, I hope Opal doesn't think these will fit my feet because these are like baby-sized!" Bolin laughed. "Like baby-sized little sock thingies would fit me! Because I am not, as it happens, a baby. But! They would fit a baby. We don't know anybody who has a baby, though, do we? Mako's little girl is too big for these now. So who do we know that is going to have a baby?" Suddenly his eyes went so big that Opal was afraid he'd hurt himself. Wordlessly he pointed at Opal's stomach.

Opal nodded and laughed, her eyes filling up. "Uh huh."

His mouth made a perfect O of surprise. "A little baby? You are going to have a little baby? _My_ little baby?"

"Yes. I started to get a bit suspicious and I went to see a midwife two days ago and she confirmed it."

Bolin burst into tears. "Oh Opal! Is it true? Am I really going to be a Daddy?"

Opal slid into the chair next to him and threw her arms around him. "You really are. And you are going to be the best Daddy in the entire world."

"I'm so haaaaaaaaaappy," he sobbed, laying his head down on her shoulder. The waiter chose that moment to come into the room with his arms loaded with a tray of food. He looked alarmed but Opal motioned him forward. He quickly laid out the food while Bolin continued to sob, making his exit as quickly as possible. Bolin suddenly raised his head up. "Boy or a girl?"

"Oh Bolin, I don't know. We won't know until the baby is born."

Bolin put his hand on her stomach and then drew it back. "Can I do that? Is it safe?"

"Of course it is. You won't feel anything yet, though. I'm only about two months along."

Bolin put his hand back. "If he's a boy, do you think we could name him San? After my Daddy?"

Opal kissed him. "I think that's a wonderful idea. Yes. Absolutely yes. Two hundred percent yes."

"Opal, I know I'm not the smartest guy you know. But I promise you, I'll be the best Daddy I can be. I promise. I'll never let anything happen to you or the baby or even me. I love you, so much. So much." He leaned down to put his mouth right next to Opal's belly. "Do you hear me in there, Baby? This is your Daddy speaking. Let me tell you, I can't wait to meet you. But I don't want you to worry about anything, okay? You just stay right in there and grow big and strong, you leave it all up to me. I'll take care of your Mommy for you. You're going to love it out here, just you wait and see."

"Oh Bolin, I love you too. And I know you are going to be a really good father. But listen, I haven't told anyone else yet, okay? I don't want the world to know. I know that eventually I'll start to show and then all of the newspapers will be trying to get pictures of me. But for now, can we just keep it quiet? That means not telling Varrick. Varrick won't keep his mouth shut. Promise me you won't?"

Bolin nodded from his position near her belly. "I promise, Opal. But...can I tell Mako? I think Mako would be really hurt if I didn't tell him."

"Yes, of course you can tell Mako. He won't be going to the papers with it! And Wu will keep his mouth shut too. I'll write a letter tonight and tell my parents." She ran a hand through Bolin's hair. "This is the first grandchild, you know. I think my parents are going to be pretty happy."

"I got a new house and a new baby all in one night. This has been the best night _ever_." Suddenly he sat up. "Hey! The food is here! When did the food come?"

"When you were busy crying. Come on, it's still hot. And I am _really_ hungry."

Bolin patted her stomach. "Now, don't be fooled by her appearance, Baby. When your Mommy gets hungry she can really pack it away. Remind me, after you're born, to tell you the story about the time we went to the noodle joint in the south side of town and your little bitty Mommy here out-ate your Uncle Wei."

"I'm about to out-eat _you_. Pass me over some of that rice."

"Sure thing. _Mommy_."

"Thank you very kindly. _Daddy_."

Opal hooked her foot around Bolin's ankle and leaned against him as she ate.


	6. I Don't Go To Sleep To Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Done as a Tumblr request for a crackship for my own OCs. 
> 
> WEIQITIAK.
> 
> I don't even know, people. Sometimes you just write what the shippers ask for.
> 
> Fiona Apple's [Sleep To Dream](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9Wnh0V4HMM) kept going through my head, though. So there you have it.

"I've never stopped thinking about you," Sitiak said, carrying Qi in arms the size of Qi's thighs. "Even after I went back to Zaofu. It took everything in my power not to take you away with me."

Qi reclined back on the velvet divan, body cool and languid in white satin. "I know." Qi tugged on one of Sitiak's braids until the man's head hovered above Qi's. "Go on and kiss me now."

Sitiak obliged, his mouth coming down on Qi's with a force that made Qi shiver. Qi's fingers ran over Sitiak's bare back; Qi had never actually felt anything that muscular before. Sitiak's hands started to work some sort of magic on Qi's bare skin, deep pressure that made Qi's breath hitch and Qi's body writhe.  "I want," Qi whispered spoke in a voice that was clear and loud. "I want. I want now."

"You're magnificent," Sitiak whispered, and his mouth closed down on Qi's nipple, making Qi arch up. "I've never made love to royalty before."

"Stop making me wait for you," Qi replied, and Qi's long hair spooled through the jasmine-scented water, Sitiak's thumbs tracing circles around Qi's thighs. "I'm tired of waiting. But I think you'll need help."

"I know," the man replied, trailing his braids along Qi's stomach. "But he'll have to take off his uniform first." Wei unbuckled the vambraces on his arms while Sitiak kissed along Qi's hipbones and Wei pulled Qi backwards along the bed until Qi could feel his erection pressing into Qi's spine. 

"Don't worry," Wei whispered into Qi's ear. "I've done this before." He kissed Qi's mouth as Sitiak's lips moved across Qi's hipbones, closer and closer, and Qi was ready, so ready, not sure any longer whose hands were where.

"Yes," Qi moaned, "Yes, there....please there...please don't stop..."

"I've dreamed of this," Wei said into Qi's mouth. "I've dreamed of you, of you this way, of you opened the jar on purpose, I know you did!"

Qi started to kiss harder, but Wei was pulling away. "I told you it was an accident!" Sitiak said, his braids growing longer and blacker. "Don't be such a baby!"

"I'm going to tell Papa!" Wei said, and suddenly their hands were gone and Qi sat up straight in bed, sweaty and very aroused, breath coming hard and fast.

"I don't care! You weren't supposed to bring it up here anyhow!"

Qi leapt out of the bed, stomping through the bedroom and into the sitting room, voice raised to its highest possible volume. "I had best not see nobody in front of my door when I open it, wakin' me up this early in the mornin'!"

There was a small shriek; a squealed, "Sorry, Qi!" and the sound of feet clattering quickly down the stairs.

Qi banged Qi's head a few times into the door jamb. "Fuckin' kids. Knew I shoulda stayed above the garage."  With a groan Qi walked back into the bedroom, landing on the bed with another curse.


	7. The Way I Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Republic City  
> Wu and Mako
> 
> ["The Way I Do" by Bishop Briggs. ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LHbbtrIEwg)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This follows a few days after [Chapter 38 of Bits and Pieces; Dribs and Drabs.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4068133/chapters/14374177) You should absolutely read that before you read this.

The King entered his suite at the Four Elements, closing the door behind him. His feet were soundless on the plush carpet. The note left for him at the front desk had told him that his royal robes would be waiting for him in the master bedroom; he went in there to find them carefully laid across the bed. He put them on, hanging his ordinary suit up. The weight of the embroidered fabric pushed down on his shoulders as it always did, and he stood there for a moment, his eyes closed, letting the silk cool his skin.

The carved rosewood box that held everything the King needed was placed on a table in the bedroom and he opened it. The jeweled nail guards were there; as well as ointments, the silk restraints, the cool bone of the godemiche, the mask. The long wooden paddle had been carefully placed on the top, however. Ah. That meant that the Concubine was looking for redemption tonight, redemption he could only get from his King. 

The Concubine had asked for a rattan cane for these times, the times when what he wanted was for his King to draw out all of his guilt, his neverending remorse, but the King had refused. He had seen first hand the sort of lasting damage it left in its wake and that he would never do. The King stared at the paddle for a moment before pulling it out, giving it an experimental slice through the air. He smiled as he placed it on the bed and slid on the nail guards. Tonight he would be a stern King, then. He sat down in the chair and waited.

He knew his Concubine was waiting in the small servant's room next door. Waiting to be called. Trying to keep his breath even. Oh, his beautiful Concubine knew how to wait, knew how to be patient. He'd tested him, made him wait once for hours, on his knees, and his Concubine had kept still and quiet, nothing moving but the slight exhale of his chest. 

_ Beautiful. _

"You may enter," the King called. His Concubine came into the room and immediately kowtowed in front of the King. He was nude but for a thin silk robe, the sash tied around his waist. Oh, but the King wanted nothing more than to take off his own robes, to feel his Concubine's hands on his skin, the rough scars of the left palm juxtaposed with the smoothness of the right, abrading and then soothing. Not yet, though.

Not when his Concubine needed him.

"Concubine," he said, his tone implying a boredom he certainly did not feel.

"Your Majesty," his Concubine said, a hitch in his breath. Oh, pretty pretty thing. The King knew what he'd see if he made his Concubine stand, knew that arousal was unfurling inside the both of them, sinister and achingly sweet.

"Well?"

An involuntary shiver rippled through the silk covering the Concubine's back.

"I...I..." His Concubine swallowed, head still dropped to the floor. The King pushed at his shoulder with his slippered foot.

"Do  _ not _ waste my time."

"You told me I had to confess to you if I...if I ever wanted someone else." The Concubine's voice trailed off into a whisper.

The King's mouth twitched up in a quick smile before he smoothed it back down. 

"And?" He put ice into his voice. His Concubine shuddered.

"Your Majesty..."

The King ran a nail guard down the side of the Concubine's face. "You are trying my patience."

His Concubine swallowed. "It was...it was your driver, Your Majesty."

Both of the King's eyebrows shot up and he had to check himself before he leaned closer.  _ Qi? _ "Explain yourself," he said, his mind racing.

"We...we had dinner and some shots of whiskey." The Concubine forgot himself and started to look up; the King reminded him of his place with a perfunctory kick to the shoulder. The Concubine's head immediately dropped back down to the floor. "Your driver went upstairs and changed into this...well, I don't know what it's called. Not a dress, it had pants but it was all one thing."

"A jumpsuit," said the King, almost absently. Qi had a jumpsuit? Since when?

"Yeah. That. And it was all white satin. Your driver came down wearing it and...it was amazing. It moved all over the place. Like water. It was tighter than what Qi ever wears. And I...uh..."

The King's voice was sharp. "You  _ what _ , Concubine?"

"I touched your driver. My hand on Qi's hip."

There was a silence. The King stared down at his Concubine. "I see." The King thought this over while his Concubine held his kowtow. "So. You put hands where they were not allowed. Hands where you were not given permission."

"Yes."

"You know there will be consequences for this."

That ripple of silk again as his Concubine's body quivered.

The King stroked the nail guards along his Concubine's jawline as he thought. He sat back in his chair, putting his hands in his lap. "You will tell us, Concubine. You will tell us exactly what it was you wanted to do to our driver. In  _ excruciating _ detail."

"What? I mean...uh...you want me to do what?" His Concubine quickly added, "Your Majesty."

"I want you to tell me, Concubine. You saw my driver in this white satin jumpsuit. And then what?"

"I don't understand. Your Majesty."

The King smiled. "What did you wish to do to my driver, Concubine? You put your hand to my driver's hip. Where did your hand want to go from there? Tell me."

The Concubine was silent for a moment. "I...I wasn't thinking that clearly. I just...Qi was barefoot and that jumpsuit showed off Qi's body and you...your Majesty knows Qi never wears anything tight. But this was tight in places. Smooth. And uh...I wanted to know. If Qi was that soft under it. That smooth. I wanted to take it off. Slow. I've never thought of Qi that way before. I wanted to know what it would feel like to kiss Qi. I've never..." The Concubine's voice faltered. "I got so hard, so quick. I couldn't..." The Concubine went silent.

The King was already growing hard under his own robes. "And?"

"I took the whiskey bottle and went back to my room without anything else happening. We pretended it didn't happen the next day."

"No, Concubine. That is not enough. I wish to know what you did when you went back to  _ our _ room."

"I drank the whiskey and went to bed."

"Excuse me?" The King's voice was so cold. Unlike his body. His body was on _ fire _ . His scalp crawled with the heat of it. "Are you  _ mocking _ me?"

"No! No, I'm not...I  _ can't _ ." 

"It is not a request. Did I not make myself clear?"

The Concubine looked up, his amber eyes desperate. "Wu, I can't-"

The King surged out of his chair to stand above his Concubine. "YOU DARE!"

His Concubine's face dropped to the carpet. The King stood above him, chest heaving. He placed one slipper onto his Concubine's silk-covered back and pushed it flat to the floor. "You will never refer to us by that name. Never again. Not in this place. You will obey me, Concubine. If you cannot obey me, I will never allow you back here with me."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," his Concubine cried into the carpet. "I'll do whatever you want."

“Yes. You  _ will _ .” The King removed his foot and sat back in his chair. “Now. You will tell your King what it is you did when you went back into your bedroom. You will tell your King what you did and what you thought and what you dreamed.” He leaned forward to trail a nail guard against the place where his Concubine’s robe exposed his neck. “If you do not tell your King, then how may your King give you the punishment you deserve?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The King waited. Oh, but he wanted to kiss his Concubine, wanted to bite at his collarbones, dig his teeth into him until he left marks. Not yet. Not yet.

“I...I took the whiskey bottle. I didn’t wait around to see what Qi- what your driver would do. I went in and I closed the door and...I drank the whiskey from the bottle. It made it worse. I don’t know if your driver was trying to flirt with me or not. I...I don’t know. I drank the whiskey and I thought, fuck it, I’ll just go to bed. But I couldn’t settle. I...I tried to think of other things. But I couldn’t.” The Concubine went silent.

The King tapped his nail guards against the arm of his chair. “Did you not remember the explicit instructions your King gave you before he left, Concubine?”

“Yes.” It was muffled.

“What were they?”

“I wasn’t supposed to get myself off until you got back.”

The King said nothing. And waited. 

“I’m sorry.” It was whispered.

“Tell your King. How, exactly, did you break your promise to me?”

The Concubine’s shoulders stiffened. “I got myself off.”

“You know that isn’t what your King wishes to hear.”

“I used my hand.”

The King said nothing.

“I...didn’t make a big deal of it or anything. I just did it.”

The King sighed. “You are wasting my time, Concubine. Perhaps I should leave you here for the rest of the evening so that you may think alone on how best to answer your King.”

“No! No. Don’t leave me. I...I drank some more whiskey. Not the whole bottle, but a lot of it. Enough that I felt it the next morning. I was on the bed and...I took my clothes off and I…” The Concubine’s voice quavered.

The King leaned forward in his chair and used his nail guards to tilt the Concubine’s chin up. The Concubine’s face was mottled with fierce color. The nail guards dug in slightly to the soft skin under that stubborn, stubborn jaw.

“No more prevarication. Tell your King what he demands.”

The Concubine whispered, those amber eyes looking into the King’s. “Last summer the kids were at Bolin’s place for a few days. Remember? LoLo and Lin had gone down the coast. I came home from work and you were in the backyard, in the pavilion and it was raining, a thunderstorm. It opened up and poured rain right as I got home and I was soaking wet and you were out there drinking champagne and I came out there and you took my clothes off. Do you remember?”

The King stroked along his Concubine’s face. “I remember.”

“I was so hot, oh spirits, the lightning started and you know what that does to me and I took your clothes off too. Remember?” At the King’s nod he continued. “I just took you right there, just right there against the wall of the pavilion, held you up in my arms and fucked you so hard you screamed, I had to cover your mouth, I thought the neighbors would think I was killing you.”

The King closed his eyes and smiled. “Yes.” 

“I was inside you and I had to shift a little so I wouldn’t drop you and when I did I looked past you through to the garage and I saw Qi there. Watching us through the window.”

The King’s eyes opened and one eyebrow arched up. 

“I knew Qi was watching and I should have...I don’t know. Stopped. Or said something or...I don’t know. But I didn’t. And Qi kept watching. I could see out of the corner of my eye and I didn’t stop. I didn’t want to.”

The nail guards stroked along the Concubine’s neck, leaving faint pink trails behind them. “Why not?” The Concubine tried to drop his head but the King grasped his chin and held it firmly. “Why not? Why didn’t you stop?”

The Concubine stared into the King’s eyes, and gritted his teeth slightly. “I wanted Qi to see how good I was. How good I could be. What I could do to you.”

“Oh,” the King breathed. “Oh, you bad bad man. And you never told me.”

“No.”

“And you never discussed this with our driver?”

“No! Spirits no! I’m still not even sure if Qi realized I caught Qi watching.”

The King leaned back in his chair, taking the nail guards away. “I see. And so tell me, my beautiful Concubine, what were you fantasizing about when you disobeyed your King and made yourself spend in the King’s own bed?”

The Concubine stared straight into the King’s eyes; so willful. Oh, the King would punish him for this later, punish him until his Concubine wept and begged. But not yet. “I thought of how it would have been if it had been Qi there. In all that white. Wet from the rain. How it would feel to take all those wet clothes off, to hold Qi like I had held you, to fuck Qi until I made Qi scream the way I made you scream. I came hard. Really hard.”

The King moved his foot and pushed the Concubine’s head until he had his face to the floor again. “Oh, Concubine. First you touched the King’s driver. Then you touched yourself. You kept secrets from your King. You fantasized about the King’s driver.” The King sighed. “By all rights I should just tie you to the bed and leave you until morning.”

The Concubine’s head flew up. “Please don’t! Don’t do that! I’ll do whatever you say, I’ll take whatever you give me. Please don’t leave me alone there.”

“Do you deserve it, though? Do you deserve redemption from the King’s own hand? For this? For these transgressions?” The King looked away. “Do you deserve my forgiveness?”

The Concubine dropped his back down. “No.” It was muffled into the carpet.

“No, you don’t,” the King agreed. He sat for a few moments, absently tapping his slippered toe on his Concubine’s shoulder. He removed his foot. “Stand up and remove your robe.”

The Concubine drew himself up gracefully and untied the sash of his robe, letting it drop.

“You will-” The King blinked and then leaned forward. There, low on his Concubine’s torso, just above his groin, was a tattoo. An  _ unexpected _ tattoo. A tattoo of the Hou-Ting crest, no less; the crest that the King had designed for himself. He’d used his coronation brooch in the forefront, all gold lines with two green gems, with the royal yellow circular background. There it was, his new crest, tattooed in color onto his Concubine’s skin. The King reached out curious fingers and swept his nail guards across the tattoo, eliciting a gasp from his Concubine. “What is this?” he asked, tapping it. 

“I belong to you,” said his Concubine, voice tight with emotion. “I got it to show I belong to you.”

“Ah,” said the King, and he leaned close enough to kiss it. His Concubine shuddered. “Oh, your King is very pleased, Concubine. Very pleased,  _ indeed _ .” He kissed it again, smiling as he got nudged by his Concubine’s growing erection. He was more than pleased. He was  _ delighted _ , and he’d show that delight later. But not now. “Because I am so pleased, I will allow you to choose if you wish to be tied down or not.”

The Concubine was silent for a moment. “Not tied down.”

“Gagged?”

The Concubine shook his head.

_ Ah. _ “You must hold yourself still and be silent, then.” He ran a single nail guard down his Concubine’s erection, and it bobbed eagerly. “If you can’t, I will leave this room and we will be finished for the night. Do you understand me?”

His Concubine swallowed audibly. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

The King stood up. “To the bed, then. Face down.” The Concubine quickly obeyed. He knew what his King wanted. He placed himself onto the bed, arms and legs splayed, his face turned to one side. The King removed his nail guards.

There would be no warming up this night. No play with the various things in the rosewood box, no back and forth, watching his Concubine squirm in pleasure. The King understood that his Concubine needed something different tonight. He took the paddle out and gave it one swing before stripping off the King’s brocade robe. It hindered his swing too much. “Count them off, Concubine. No other sound, mind, or else we are finished. Do you understand me?” The Concubine nodded, his eyes closed. Without a pause the King brought the paddle down with an audible crack, the flesh of his Concubine’s buttocks flattening as the wood made contact. 

“One,” his Concubine gasped, and was silent. The King continued, bringing the paddle down with well-aimed precision, his Concubine’s flesh at first pinkening only to bloom an angry scarlet as the blows continued. Soon heat started to shimmer off of his Concubine in waves, the way it always did when his Concubine fought for control over his bending, the flame roaring within his blood. By the end, by the time his Concubine had counted to thirty, he was shaking uncontrollably, covered with sweat, tears leaking out of his closed eyes. But he’d stayed silent, and he’d counted each and every one, like the very good Concubine that he was.

The King put the paddle away and took off his spectacles before laying down next to his Concubine, smoothing back a wayward strand of hair. He was silent, letting his Concubine regain his breath. He waited, patiently, until his Concubine opened his eyes, lashes damp still with tears. “Better?” he asked. “You may speak.”

“Yes,” said his Concubine, although it came out roughly. “Thank you, your Majesty. Thank you.” They were done for the night, the King knew. Other nights, he’d continue to play, his Concubine throwing out little sparks of defiance for them both to enjoy. Other nights they’d use the ropes and the godimiche, the clamps, and maybe he’d sit on his throne and make his Concubine take him deep into his mouth, so deep that he’d come right then and there. But not tonight. Tonight his Concubine had gotten what he needed. So the King leaned forward and kissed his Concubine on the mouth, their own signal for when they were done with this game they so loved to play. 

Mako smiled into the kiss. “Ow.”

“Ow yourself.” Wu pulled back far enough to kiss him on the nose and then swung himself off the bed. “Be right back.” He went to the sideboard and filled a glass of water from a pitcher, the ice tinkling as it splashed into the goblet. “Mmmm, here.” He helped Mako raise his head so he could drink. 

“Thanks,” Mako said, when he’d finished.

“You want more?”

“I’m okay for now.”

Wu put the goblet down on the night table and crawled back onto the bed, holding his arms out. Mako gingerly made his way across the coverlet and lay his head on Wu’s chest, Wu’s fingers immediately going to stroke his hair. “You want to talk about it?”

“No,” Mako said, his voice muffled into Wu’s ribcage.

“Mako…”

“No.”

“Not talking about it won’t help the situation.”

“Sure it will.”

Wu laughed, and Mako’s head bobbed on his chest. “So why haven’t I gotten to see this amazing white jumpsuit?”

“I don’t know.”

“Probably because I haven’t given Qi any whiskey.”

“Seriously, I don’t want to talk about this tonight.” Mako raised his head and glared.

“Okay, okay. Fine, have it your way.” Wu stuck his tongue out. “Can we talk about the tattoo instead?” He grinned.

“You like that, hmm?”

“Mako. My dearest, dearest man. Love of my life. The person I wish by my side, now and forever. I do not just  _ like _ the tattoo; I  _ love  _ the tattoo. In fact, I can tell you, I am already having all sorts of deliciously filthy thoughts about what I could do with that tattoo.”

“Oh really?”

Wu gestured down to his growing erection. “As you can see.”

“I would do something about that but you kind of beat me stupid.”

“Keep your hands to yourself next time, then.”

Mako grunted and then slid carefully off of Wu to lay flat onto the bed again. “How am I supposed to sit at my desk tomorrow?”

“I’m sorry, what was that?”

“Nothing. Not a damn thing.”

“That’s what I thought,” Wu said, and flicked the gentlest fingernail across a welt. Mako hissed. Wu swung off the bed to dig into the rosewood box, pulling out a jar of ointment. “Big baby,” he said, and gently started to rub it in. “Better?”

“Mmmmhmmmm.” Silence for a time, as the stripes were soothed and cooled. “Wu?”

“Yes?”

“You know I love you, right?”

Wu stopped rubbing for a moment. “Yes. I know.” He started again.

“I’m sorry.”

“No more sorries. That’s what this is for.”

Mako turned his head back to look at him, his brows furrowed close together, his teeth worrying at his lip. “You sure? Because my track record with fucking this kind of thing up is not good.”

Wu frowned as he put the salve on the night table. The entire point of these nights was to allow Mako to get rid of his anxiety, not add to it. He slid back to face his husband. “Come now, Mako. This is  _ me _ you are talking to. Besides, that’s why we do this. So that you can forgive yourself and let it go, whatever  _ it _ is. This time isn’t any different than any of the other times.”

“Except it is. You know why.” Mako turned his face away.

Wu lay there for a moment before reaching for the oil that was always left on the night tables whenever he reserved these rooms, smearing it all over his slightly flagging erection, his eyes half-lidding in pleasure as he gave himself a few extra pumps with his hand. “Roll over,” he said.

“Wait...what?” 

“Do it,” the King commanded, and Mako turned over without thinking, letting out with a gasp of pain as his welted flesh hit the silk of the coverlet. “Good,” Wu said, and nudged Mako’s feet until he understood what Wu wanted and moved his legs apart of his own accord.

“Dammit, Wu! It hurts.”

“I know,” Wu said, and he grabbed a pillow, sliding it under Mako’s hips, ignoring his involuntary whimper of pain. He positioned himself at Mako’s entrance and pushed himself in, hard, as Mako nearly came up off of the bed, unprepared for the suddenness of it.

“WU!”

He stared down at his husband and withdrew himself almost all the way. “I’m not angry.” He shoved himself in, ignoring the almost painful tightness that surrounded him as well as Mako’s gasp. “I don’t care what you did.” He withdrew again, this time to Mako’s moan.

“It doesn’t matter what you do.” He thrust himself in again, holding himself steady as Mako’s hips snapped up. Out again.

“Because I love you, more than anyone else in the world.” In again, and this time Mako begged him  _ please please _ but he waited before he pulled out again, staring into his husband’s eyes.

“I will never ever leave you, not for any reason. Do you understand me?  _ Never _ .” And then he was in again, this time for good. He grabbed at Mako’s hips to steady himself as he pistoned himself in, deep and fast. It wasn’t sensual lovemaking, no, this was  _ fucking _ , because Wu knew exactly what was needed and he fucked it right out of Mako; all of the guilt, all of the shame, all of the confusion, harder and harder, fast and brutal. Mako’s hands were digging into the coverlet and the ends of his hair, disordered and damp with sweat slapped at his cheeks as he thrashed his head to and fro, and Wu fucked him on and on, through Mako’s sudden tears, through his own nearly unbearable desire, keeping up the pace until Mako could no longer stop himself from grabbing at his own erection, the heat rising up again from his skin, and Wu kept slamming into him until he came so hard that he lost his balance and sprawled down gracelessly to fall half over Mako’s thigh and onto his groin, catching the last spurt from Mako’s own shouted orgasm across his chin. 

Wu closed his eyes for a moment and tried to catch up with his own panting breath, wiping at his chin, listening to Mako gulp in his own air. He put a hand to Mako’s chest. “Shhh,” he murmured into Mako’s skin. “Shhh, now.” He purposely slowed his own breathing in the hopes that Mako would slow his own down as well. They lay there for a few moments, both of them trying to calm down.

Wu finally opened his eyes to find that he was face to face with the tattoo. He scooched just a little closer to stare at it. “This is a very well done tattoo,” he said, and gave it a another lingering kiss of appreciation.

Mako huffed a little laugh and then reached down with strong arms to pull Wu up and into his chest, kissing the top of Wu’s own disordered curls. “I asked Yumi, she said the artist was the best in Republic City.”

Wu smiled and kissed his chest. “I approve. Very very sexy.”

“Good,” said Mako. “I think you killed me. Just so you know.”

“All in a day’s work,” Wu said, with an airy little flick of his hand, and Mako nuzzled into his neck.

“We should take a shower, I guess.”

“I don’t think I can walk at the moment. Give it a minute.”

Mako shifted himself off of his back and onto his side, peremptorily adjusting Wu until he had him spooned into his arms. “Thank you,” he whispered, and Wu closed his eyes and smiled.

“Better?”

“You always make it better,” Mako replied, and his arms tightened around his husband. “Always.”


	8. Feel Her Body Rise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Republic City  
> Bolin and Opal
> 
> "Fields of Gold," by Sting.

"Opal, honey. Honey. The alarm's ringing."

She snuggled back into pillow, turning away from him. "Mmmmmm."

His large hand slid across her hip as he reached for the alarm, fumbling with it as it squawked indignantly, before he managed to find the right combination of jiggling and smacking that made it stop. "We have to get up." His mouth was saying the words, but his body was still firmly planted into the bed.

"Mmmmmhmmmm." She wriggled herself backwards until she bumped into his chest. Coming up on fifteen years she'd been with him, and the sheer bulk of him never stopped surprising her. His hand curled around her hipbone, easily covering it. Gently, always so gently. She waited; his nose buried itself into the nape of her neck and she smiled without opening her eyes. 

"Opal," he cajoled, nuzzling her, "It's time to get up."

"Nuh-huh." She flipped herself over and pushed her face into him. "Ten more minutes."

"You always say that," he murmured into her hair, "And then we end up falling asleep again and I have to run to get San to school."

"School-schmool," was all she had to say about that. "Mmmmmm, you are so toasty."

"Opal..."

"Ten more minutes."

His chest started to rumble with sleepy laughter. "I have to be at the studio."

"What's better, me or the studio?" She snuggled in more.

"You know it's you, Easy-Breezy." He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in tight. "Never anybody but you. You're my best girl. Even if you won't get out of bed in the mornings."  

Now it was her turn to laugh, poking at his calves with her bare toes. "Don't make me do it. Let's stay in bed all day. No one will even miss us."

He was grinning at her. "And who will feed our lovely children breakfast?"

She widened her eyes in faux-surprise. "Children? What children?"

"Three of them? Pretty cute, if I do say so myself."

"Nope. Sorry. Doesn't ring a bell. Must be with your other wife."

"Yeah! My other wife! You know...ah...Bopal."

Now she was laughing, covering her mouth with her hand to keep from waking the children. As it was she was expecting Bu to come in at any given second. "Bopal? Bopal?"

"Hey, don't make fun of other people's names, that's rude. You'll hurt her feelings." He was laughing as well by now, the slight scratching around his eyes coming into play. Oh, but she loved all of his laugh lines. She leaned in to kiss him, meaning to haul herself out of bed as soon as she broke away but the kiss was sweet and hot, full of mirth and there was his hand, firmly cupping her ass. She pressed herself into him and wrapped her own hand around his waist, running her foot up his leg. "I don't think this counts as us getting up," he said around her kiss, but she noted that he wasn't trying to pull away, either.

"Don't you want to go to work with a smile?" she asked, and his eyes lit up.

"We have to be quick, the last time I brought San late that headmistress came out to give it to me, she's scary." He started kissing along the column of her neck, his hands busy working to tug her panties down.

"Sic Aunt Lin on her. She's terrified of her." Opal giggled and then gasped as one large finger brushed against her clit. "Hey, bring that back there, mister."

"Yeah okay, let me get my shorts off," he started flailing, thrashing his thighs. "Come on, help me out over here."

She hooked her thumbs into his waistband and started to pull. "Quit moving, you're making this harder."

"Actually, Opal, I think you're the one making things harder." He looked very proud of himself as she dropped her forehead to his chest, giggling. "Get it, you - oh crap! We didn't lock the door!"

She flipped herself over, leaving his shorts around his knees, to narrow her eyes and move her hand. With a gust of wind and an audible snick the lock turned. "There."

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" He was grinning at her as she flipped back towards him. 

"Tell me later, get those shorts off, soldier!" she barked, and shimmied out of her own panties. Bolin tossed his own shorts off the bed and then cracked his knuckles before waggling them at her.

"All ten of them, reporting for duty!"

 Her giggles exploded out of her and she clapped her hand over her mouth again. "Stop," she begged, but he was now waggling those thick eyebrows as well as his fingers, and he threw the covers over their heads and yanked her down, grabbing at her ass again.

"Covert operations," he whispered at her. "Can't let the enemy hear us." She grabbed at his prick and he hissed and then made a siren noise, "Bwee-ah! Bwee-ah! Red alert!" His hands covered her nipples and started to twiddle them. "Up telescope!"

"I think you mean periscope," she corrected, gasping a little as his tugging set her on fire.

"Whatever," he said, and then his mouth followed his fingers, suckling and nibbling at her the way she loved. Her hips arched up and she ground into him, delighted at how hard he was. He grunted and sent a hand down to push her thighs apart as she tugged at his hair, pulling him up so she could kiss him again. "Time to fire those ice torpedoes," he gasped out. "You ready?"

She was ready, so ready, wet and panting. "Fire at will!" She felt rather than saw his grin and as he positioned himself she grabbed him and guided him in, arching up again. "Oh, Bo, yes, like that, oh, so good." She wrapped her legs around his waist so that he'd push up against her clit and hooked her arms around his massive shoulders, holding on as he braced himself above her, their breathing amplified under the heavy embrace of their blankets. 

"Hang on," he whispered into her ear, and she knew he meant it, as he started to move quickly inside of her, and her head thrashed back and forth across the bed. She loved it slow with him; she loved spending hours as he was tender to her, always so attentive, making her blossom with desire. But oh spirits, she loved this too, when he just fucked her as hard and fast as they could both take it, and she could feel her orgasm flying towards her, grunting helplessly with each hard thrust. "Shh, Opie, shh," he said, and she tried to quiet herself but she was quickly losing control as she started to tense up. "Fuck," she moaned, and he hissed in response.

"Mommy? Are you okay?" The voice came from the other side of the locked door as the knob rattled.

Her eyes flew open. "Shit!" She untangled one of her arms and yanked the covers down, freeing their heads.

"Mommy's okay, buddy, she just uh...well, she stubbed her toe. We'll uh," he kept slamming into her, her breasts frantically juddering and how the man could do that and talk at the same time she had no idea, because coherent speech had already left her, "be down in a second, okay? You go on downstairs, okay, Bu?"

"Okay, Daddy! Hey Daddy?"

"Uh huh?" He rested his forehead on hers, and damned if her orgasm wasn't coming back. "Shhh," he said into her ear; he could feel how close she was, she was sure. Her legs started to tighten around his waist and she couldn't stop the arch of her hips that positioned her right on top of his pubic bone, her remaining hand digging into his shoulder.

"Good morning," Bu chirruped, and she heard the faint sound of his bare feet running back down the hall.

"Coast is clear," he said, and she opened her eyes to see, in the dim light through the curtains, that his eyes were closed in concentration. "Come on now, Opie." His eyes flew open as she started to shake and he quickly put his mouth over hers, muffling her cries as she came, hard, digging her heels into the meat of his ass. He kept going, sweat beading up, and she let out with a breathy little scream as he grunted, froze and came inside of her, her second orgasm surprising her with its intensity. He dropped on top of her for just a second before rolling to his side, still inside of her, taking her with him to wrap her up in his arms. They stared at each other for a long moment before she felt her mouth curve up into a toothy grin.

"Damn, soldier," she said, and laughed as he winked at her.

"At your service, Madame," he replied, and then grinned back at her. They lay there for a minute, smiling at each other, before he leaned close to kiss her. "I love you, Opal Beifong."

"I love you, too." 

His eyes started to droop shut; she shook him just slightly. "Oh no you don't, big boy. You've got things to do this morning, no sleeping now."

"Mmm-hmm," he answered, and carefully pulled out of her. She felt the little pang of loss she always felt when he withdrew; having him inside of her always felt so right, so true. "Right. I'm up." His eyes closed and she shook him harder.

"Come on, go get in the shower. Make it a cold one. I'll go make some strong tea, give the kids their breakfast."

He peered at her blearily. "You sure? I'm on breakfast duty this morning."

She gave his ass a squeeze. "I think you've fulfilled all your duties this morning, soldier." He laughed a little, cuffing himself on the head to try and wake himself up. "I'll take a shower once you're done."

"I better make it a cold shower or else I'm not going to be good for anything." He lay there for another moment before propelling himself off the bed, stretching and yawning. He scratched his ass idly as he stumbled into the bathroom, snorting a little. "You need to pee first?"

"Yeah, I'm coming."

"You sure did," his smug voice floated out of the bathroom. She laughed and then hauled herself up, grabbing at her robe.


	9. You're Windy And Wild

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gonap Village, near the Northern Air Temple  
> Baatar and Ikki
> 
> "Bang A Gong," by Power Station (with due respect to T. Rex).

"Not that it's surprising you'd give your own village first priority," the old man intoned querulously, his mouth pinched up. His son shot Baatar an apologetic look.

"Da, the Temple's not trying to cheat us."

"Hmph." The old man was unconvinced. Baatar put it down to age; the Headman of Gonap Village had to be in his eighties, at least. He was practically deaf, too, they'd been shouting all morning. His son clearly wanted to override him but just as clearly was holding back, deferential as well as patient. At this rate they'd be here for another week without getting anything accomplished. He tried not to let his own impatience show. Not long after they'd arrived they'd been informed by the local weather granny that an early seasonal windstorm was headed their way and while Blue and Ikki might be able to power through to get them to the next village there was no sense in risking it. Which meant they'd actually be stuck here another few days even if the old man was willing to negotiate. The villagers were welcoming and would gladly put them up, mountain hospitality being what it was, that wasn't the problem. It's just that this was their fifth village in two weeks and he was tired and missed his brother and was seriously regretting his decision to leave Goba behind. 

Not to mention the headman's grandson had been trying to flirt with Ikki from the moment they'd landed and slid off of Blue. He wasn't even subtle about it. Ikki hadn't taken the bait or anything; oh, she'd charmed the boots off of him in three seconds flat, that went without saying. She did that to everyone. Still. What was he, invisible? He was pretty sure punting the man's ass into next week wouldn't help matters any, but he was really fucking tempted.

"Now, why would we cheat you?" Ikki leaned forward and put her hand gently atop the old man's hand, giving him her best smile. "That's not the airbender way, Headman." 

"He doesn't look like an airbender to me." A sour grimace was sent his way.

"I'm afraid we don't have very many airbenders yet," Ikki replied. "And one of them is only four years old, we tend to leave him out of negotiations. He can be bought for the price of a moonpeach or two." She winked at the Headman's daughter-in-law, who smiled back at her.

"Is he yours, Master Ikki?"

"He was brought to us by his family when his bending first showed itself."  Not entirely true, but close enough. It sounded better than saying they'd paid for him, anyhow. "And by the way, I'd be grateful if you spread the word that any airbenders that wish to come are always welcome. Age isn't important."

"Bunch of sexless hermits," the old man groused, yanking his hand away from Ikki's. He ought to dropkick the old coot off the side of a mountain.

"Some of the airbenders were celibate due to choice or their nature, true," Ikki replied calmly, the smile never leaving her face. "But obviously not all."

"Never mind him, Ikki," smirked the grandson, getting real fucking familiar. "I'm guessing you're one of the other kind of airbenders, hmm?" That's it. He was going to kill him. His fists started to clench up but the lightest breeze danced across his face. Ikki hadn't moved, but she didn't need to; he knew it was her. She didn't even look at him, just let it caress his cheek as she ignored the grandson, focusing on the Headman.

"I'm tired of this conversation," he whined, and snapped his fingers. His grandson immediately stood and give him a hand up from his overstuffed cushion on the floor at the head of the low table. His mother nodded once at him and he escorted the old man out of the room. The woman sighed.

"My apologies. He'll nap now, and won't be back down the rest of the day."

Her husband nodded. "I'm sorry you had to sit through all of that." He shook his head. "It's...well. He's old and he won't step down and it's complicated."

Ikki's smile reached her eyes. "Families are often complicated like that." Both of them returned her smile and the man leaned forward to include him in the conversation.

"I appreciate your patience. Now, if you'll give us a moment we'll get some tea and get down to the business of actually discussing this." 

The man went to fetch them tea and some sweetened barley cakes while his wife opened up one of the windows and let some fresh air in. She chatted with Ikki about some vegetarian village specialty; by the time he tuned back in she was promising to write down the recipe for Ikki and her husband had returned with both tea and their son.

They approached it the same way they'd approached all of the other villages; he sat back to let Ikki's charisma come into play, let her humor and sparkle draw them in and relax them before he gradually stepped in to lay down their terms and start the numbers negotiations while she kept the mood friendly. It wasn't a good cop/bad cop thing so much as it was a balance of charm and sense.  He sincerely doubted that any of these people took Ikki too seriously, despite her mastery tattoos; she was young and pretty, smiled a great deal, infused cheer into the tensest of situations. They were fools. Ikki was smart; more than that, she was canny. She could read a room like nobody's business, too, a skill he was severely lacking. They'd worked out a system where she nudged him in the right direction, giving him touches of air on certain body parts to let him know how to proceed. A cool touch of wind on his right hand, for example, told him to push a little harder; the same touch on his left hand told him to back off and let her step in for a bit. She was skilled enough that she could target him directly, not letting anyone else feel those subtle little puffs. The breeze across his face was her way of telling him to keep his cool.

At her nod he unrolled the map of the area that Huan had drawn for them, the woman helping him secure the corners.  Three more of the villagers joined them, and over the next couple of hours he traced out the other trade routes they'd already secured, discussing what goods they could and could not ferry, the limitations of the seasons and such. At one point one of the men slipped out to fetch dinner for them and they'd cleared the table and set it for a meal. He took a quick jaunt out to the communal outhouse, squinting up at the darkening sky. The weather granny was right, a storm was rolling in. Damn it anyhow.

By the time he got back Grandson had planted himself next to Ikki, grinning over at him with a bit of a challenge. Cocky motherfucker. He mentally counted to ten and reminded himself that Ikki was her own woman and could handle herself. He sat down next to the Headman's daughter-in-law and tried to pretend like pleasant small talk was something that came naturally to him. He wasn't sure how successful he was, but she didn't slap him or anything, so he guessed it was good enough. 

Grandson was bleating on about his fascinating career as a barley farmer; Ikki was making faint faux-interested noises in return. He'd like to cram some barley up somewhere where he'd never find it again. The man leaned in close, smirking at her. "So let me tell you about my crop yield, huh?" The older woman sitting to Ikki's other side rolled her eyes and snorted. 

"You really ought to work on those pickup lines, boy."

Ikki exchanged a grin with her and then complimented the headman's son on his dish of curried paneer, smoothly redirecting the conversation. He never could tell if this sort of thing bothered her or not. It wasn't like it was the first time it had happened; she tended to draw a crowd of admirers wherever she went. She just carried on, however, while he ate dumplings, politely chitchatted, and thought of ways he could plant his fist into Grandson's face and not blow the negotiations.

He barely registered the first little tendril that brushed along his knee it was so faint, hardly even rippling his trousers. He blinked and glanced at Ikki; she was asking the woman next to her about herbal soap making, of all things. He went back to his dumplings and managed another bite before a slightly firmer gust set the brocaded hem of his chupa fluttering under the table. That was no accident or stray breeze; she was doing that, for sure. She continued her discussion, asking about using camel yak butter to make the soap softer, not paying the least bit of attention to him.

The next touch insinuated itself along his thigh; a slow drag that had him sitting up and squirming just a bit. He was glad he at least had his trousers as a barrier between his skin and those teasing little touches. The Headman's son chose that moment to ask him about the lemons they'd brought as a gift; he pushed up his glasses and was giving a brief and simplified explanation of his hydroponics experiment when he felt a distinct and rather firm pressure on his balls. He let out with a choked gasp of surprise; the man mistook it for a stray piece of dumpling and slammed him several times across his shoulder blades trying to helpfully dislodge it. Ikki stared at him, all wide-eyed innocence across the table.

"Are you okay, Baatar?" The pressure was back, tapering into a caress. Oh, damn her. "Maybe you should drink something."

"Yes, let me get you some more beer," the man agreed, refilling his glass. 

"Can't have the guests choking on your dumplings," his wife said, and her husband made a face at her. "You all right now?"

He managed a nod as his cock stiffened, the air she was bending constricting around it through the fabric. "Yes, fine. Sorry about that." He met Ikki's gaze and raised one of his eyebrows very slowly. She fluttered her eyelashes as the grip on his cock tightened and he took a deep breath in through his nose, trying to regain some semblance of control. Oh, she was going to pay for this later. Suddenly she closed her eyes and the pressure eased off a bit as she tilted her head slightly.

"Storm's here," she announced, opening her eyes, and three seconds later a blast of wind hit hard enough to rattle the wooden shutters, right as he was hit with a squeeze of air so tight that his cock actually lurched with it. She wiped at her mouth and fingers with her napkin. "Thank you so much for the delicious dinner. I hate to eat and run, but if you'd please excuse me I should really go and check on my air bison."

"Of course," the headman's son said. "I hope the harvest barn will do for her."

Ikki smiled. "It's a bit of a squeeze," another squeeze to him, she was killing him over here, "but she'll be fine. Generally speaking weather doesn't really bother her."

"Well, I'll show your man here to the room we've put aside for you." He nodded at Baatar, who gave him a bit of a forced smile back. Good thing these chupas were as baggy as they were. If she kept this up he would have a hard time walking.

Grandson stood up to smile at Ikki. "It's getting fierce out there.  I should give you an escort, wouldn't want the wind to take you away with it." They all stared at him, including Ikki. His mother reached over and whacked him one upside his knee.

"Fool! She's an airbending master! Why would she need your help getting through a windstorm?" 

"Uh..."

The headman's son led him up the stairs to the fourth floor, into a small but brightly furnished room, handing over one of the lamps he was carrying. "Plenty of extra blankets and such in the chest there. Chamber pot's under the bed and there's water on the table. Please make sure to find us if you need anything, we're just down the hall." He had raised his voice to be heard over the insistent howl from the storm, trying to batter its way through shuttered windows. "And thanks once again for the lemons. We'll see you in the morning." A flash of a grin; Baatar bowed and got a bow in return before the man closed the door behind him. He put the lamp down on the table and immediately went to adjust his trousers, still half hard. She'd be the death of him one of these days, he swore.

He'd pulled several woolen blankets out of the chest and was smoothing them onto the bed when Ikki opened the door, thanking their host before shutting it behind her. "Blue all settled?"

"Mmmhmm." Another bang of the shutters. "It's one hell of a storm. I'm glad for the bed, I don't think even Blue would enjoy it out there tonight." She pressed herself up against him and brushed her hand down through the layers of his clothes, giving him a squeeze that way. "You should take these off."

"I'll freeze. They don't have any heat in these rooms. I'm not an airbender, I can't warm myself up."

"I can warm you up," she replied, and winked, tucking her arms around his waist.

"That was a nasty little game you were playing down there," he said, leaning his head far enough back to take his glasses off, setting them carefully down on the table.

"You liked it." She was laughing.

"Did I, now?" He cupped her ass and gave her a swat. "You think it's that easy for a man to just get up from the floor when he's hard and have no one notice?"

"See, this is what diversions are for." She hooked a leg around his so she could get closer. "You know. Knock over a glass of water. Point and scream that you saw a spider wasp. Let out a really noxious fart that you blame on someone else. You're a smart man, you could have thought of something."

"You've done all of those, haven't you?" He couldn't help but smile at her. 

"It might have happened." She waggled her eyebrows at him and he kissed her then, pulling her closer. "Come on, take them off, you can get dressed again when I'm done with you."

"When you're done with me, hmm?" She was unbuttoning his shirt and he undid the first toggle of her wingsuit. "Just use me and throw me away." Her skin was so warm, he was aching to fold himself around her and soak it in. You could take the boy out of the South but not the South out of the boy; he dreamed, sometimes, of Zaofu's temperate weather.

"Sure, I need to go and listen to a guy talk about his crop yield." Her tone was so disgusted that he laughed in spite of himself. "What an ass. No wonder he's single." She managed to untie his chupa and tugged it down over his hips, quickly finishing with his shirt and pushing it open to expose his chest to the cold air. He sucked in a breath through his teeth with the bite of it; she murmured, "Sorry," and took his hands away from her wingsuit. "Just get under the covers before you freeze." 

With her help he quickly shucked off the rest of his clothes, taking the time to fold them neatly, despite his shivering. He left his socks on, though; thick woolen ones that Mauja had knitted for him and given him before they left. They weren't sexy, no, but they were warm. He hauled up the blankets and slid inside, wincing at the iciness of the bedclothes. She quickly wriggled out of the confines of her wingsuit, launching herself into bed, wrapping her arms around him. "Oooh, you are cold. Let me do something about that."

"I wish you would." She pushed at him until he rolled over onto his back and she lay atop him, positioning herself as he pulled the covers back up. She was a warm, breathing, solid weight on him and his cock, which had shriveled up in the chill of the unheated room, started to stir, just a little. "Fuck, it's cold. Why am I here, again?" He'd meant it as a joke, but she was staring down at him, her gray eyes so close to his own that he was nearly cross-eyed trying to gaze back at her.

"So I can love you," she said, and for once she was perfectly serious. "So your brother can love you. So Goba can love you. So you can help people."

He shook his head. "I'm not a hero, Ikki. Don't make me out to be one."

She only smiled, however. "So let me ask you a question. Where would you put the tank if you were going to set up indoor plumbing here?"

He frowned, his mind starting to focus in on the problem. "Well, I haven't had a chance to survey the village properly, but as we were flying in on Blue I saw a spot that..." he trailed off to sigh at her. "You did that on purpose."

She kissed him. "I am wise like the ancients."

"You're a pain in my ass, is what you are." His hands were roaming along her back, big and just slightly calloused. 

"To be fair, I've never actually fucked you in the ass." Her head tilted just slightly as he hissed out a little involuntary breath, his cock twitching at the very idea. "Huh. Well, now. Somebody liked that, didn't they? We'll come back to that later."

"Ikki..." his tone was a warning, but when had she ever heeded anyone's warnings? She lay herself flat down on him to whisper into his ear.

"That'd be fun, wouldn't it?" She shifted and her breasts trailed along his chest. "We're young. We should have lots of fun."

"I'm not really all that young." He tried to figure out if he could get a nipple into his mouth without exposing himself. 

"Big baby, that's what you are." The blankets slid down as she slid upwards and he yelped and dragged them back up again as she giggled. "See what I mean?"

"I am telling you, woman, that it's fucking cold in this room. The only part of me that's warm are my feet."

"Oh, I think we can change that, don't you?" She reached behind her, groping until she found him, giving an experimental tug. "Hmmm. That's a problem."

"What's a problem? Where are you...?" He cut off as she quickly slithered her way down the length of him, disappearing under the blankets. He had to grab on to them to keep them from going along with her; he was trying to pull them back up while exposing himself as little as possible when she took him into her mouth. "Ikki!"

She popped him out of her mouth long enough to say, "Just trying to keep you warm," before putting him right back in again and he wasn't sure whether he should laugh or groan so he did both. She laughed as well, he felt the vibrations of it as he looked up to the ceiling, a brightly colored smear without his lenses. If he let go of the blankets he had firmly clutched at his chin they'd never stay in place and he was sure she knew that. This was the woman who had asked his brother to make them a set of handcuffs, after all. She enjoyed teasing him. One of her wicked hands tugged at his sack and he tensed up and thrust into her mouth before closing his eyes, smiling. The wind was screaming defiance outside and he was starting to heat up a little and she was alternating the tugging with a little rough massage, something that she knew damn well undid him. She'd figured that his balls were his weak spot pretty much from the start. Her other hand was wrapped around his shaft, giving her mouth a bit of an assist. 

There were times when his brain couldn't help but take a rational step back; he'd assess his situation dispassionately, mentally filing away all external stimuli and his reactions to it. He was thirty-four years old, laying in a freezing cold room in a village so small and rural it wasn't even on most maps, wearing nothing but a pair of woolen socks, clutching at several blankets in order to stay warm, his dick in the mouth of one of the scant handful of airbending masters alive. This was his life; Baatar Beifong, favored eldest son, former heir to his family's name, mechanical genius, raised in wealth and privilege, one of the greatest villains in recent history. He was here. This was not a story. She was here with him and it was real. He started to shake and it was at that point that Ikki came sliding back up his body, her head forcing its way through the blanketed barrier at his chin.

"Don't cry," she said, working her hand through to cup his chin. "Please don't cry."

"I'm not," he replied, but a tear that had made its way down his temple dripped into his ear, giving the lie to his words. "I'm not...I'm not sad, I swear I'm not."

"You sure?" she asked, and he smiled at her.

"I'm sure. Sometimes the tears just come on their own."

"Too many years without them," she said, and he was struck, once again, at how very wise she was.

"Please," he asked, or possibly begged, and she knew what he wanted. She moved herself into position and after a moment of fumbling managed to slide herself on to the tip of him and he took it from there, pushing slowly into her as she used her knees to push down. He was a man of science; of logic, of numbers, straight lines and precision but he swore that every single time he settled himself inside of her he understood why some people woke in the morning to praise the sun for shining. Was this how it was going to be, always? He'd figured that it was a first time sex thing, maybe a second or third, but it wasn't like that. Sex with her made him feel like going to his knees, grateful for everything. He wanted to tell her but had no idea how to convey his devotion without sounding like an idiot, so he closed his eyes and tried, for once in his fucked up life, to stop thinking and just enjoy how it felt to be inside a woman whom he loved and who loved him, no strings attached, in return. 

She lay flat atop him, pressed skin to skin, their movements slow and deep. Her eyes closed and she breathed out a sigh, the rug covering the wall behind them swaying and bumping in response. He loved this about her, loved how her passion manifested itself in the very air she breathed. He had never once been afraid of her, never intimidated, never worried that she'd strike out or punish. The heat inside of her was incredible; wet and intense, and while the air was just as cold as it had been a half hour ago he no longer cared. He let go of the blankets, stretching out fingers that were aching just a bit with tightness of his grip. She opened her eyes then and he smirked at her as he pushed her up, her legs straddling his hips. "Do it," he encouraged, and she threw her head back and ground down onto him, hard. "Yes," he hissed, and raised his hips with a sharp jerk as she cried out. He reached around to grab her ass and slid her up his dick before dropping her again, grinning as they both gasped at it.

"Thought you were cold," she laughed, color flushing across her cheeks and collarbone. "Or is it just that you're willing to risk frostbite for a good orgasm?"

"Give me a good orgasm and I'll let you know," he said, flicking up an eyebrow and she raised herself up and pushed herself down again.

"I can do that," she replied, and braced her hands on his chest as she fucked herself onto him, her grin mischievous.  She was done with being slow and he was happy to help things along, powering into her as she clutched at him. "Scoot up, scoot up," she insisted, pushing at him with her hands and knees until he figured out what she wanted, sitting himself up with his back against the rug on the wall. She used the angle to clamp her legs around his waist and dug her fingers into his hair, as his hands dug into the meat of her ass. "Come on," she moaned into his ear and that was it, he pistoned into her as she matched him thrust for thrust, bringing up as much wind as there was outside, he swore. The rug at his back started to burn him as he thrashed against it and that just made him hotter; a dim part of his mind registered that he was muttering the word _fuck_ over and over again, putting actions to words. "Don't stop," she gasped but he had no intention of that, no fucking intention of that at all, but then realized he was going to come before she was and he tried to slow down a little but she yanked on his hair and slammed herself into him so hard that he wasn't sure if it was pain or pleasure he was feeling and then he was coming into her, fingers tightening enough to leave little bruises on her. He grunted as he spasmed, unable to move under his own power.

"I want you to come," he gritted out, and she nodded into him, taking one of her hands out of his hair and quickly moving it down to rub at her clit, still impaled on him.

"Do it," she implored, and he raised one hand and brought it down with a resounding smack on her ass; she jolted and moaned, "Again, again," her fingers furiously moving. He smacked her twice more and then she stiffened, holding her breath as he grabbed her, her back arching as she cried out and shook around his still imprisoned cock. 

"There, there it is," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her as she remembered to breathe again. She lay her head on his chest and blew out a sigh. They sat there for a moment, the both of them clutching at each other, their breathing still labored, until he realized that despite the exercise, he was still colder than a camel yak's balls in a snowstorm. "Under the covers," he blurted out as he scooted himself back down into the bed, wincing at the rug burn on his shoulders.  She made an awkward little upwards lurch to free herself from him and crawled under as well, helping to settle the blankets back to where they should be.

"Better?" She wrapped herself around him. 

"I'm still fucking cold."

She snickered. "Big baby, just like I said." She started to snuggle into him but he shoved the covers down, hopping out of bed, groping shortsightedly at his pack. He fished out a pair of soft, knitted long underwear, yanking them on, followed by the matching top. He owed Mauja big time. He dashed across the room to throw himself back into the bed, pulling the covers back up to his chin, Ikki chuckling the entire while. "Now are you better?"

"Yep." He gathered her close and patted her head. "You should go to sleep. After all, you have a lot to learn about the scintillating subject of barley farming, best to do it on a good night's rest."

"Ha ha ha, asshole," she said, rapping him lightly on his chest. She was grinning, though. "Only you would do what we just did with your socks on."

"I see no point in having cold feet when I can avoid it," he replied, and yawned, risking an exposed arm to extinguish the lamp. "Someday you'll appreciate how practical I am."

"I already do, silly man," she said, and he smiled as her cheek rested against his chest. 


	10. Sweet The Sting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Republic City  
> Mako and Qi
> 
> "Sweet the Sting" by Tori Amos

I finally chased Jiahao out of the dojo tonight. I usually cut the guy a break since he works his ass off but it was late and I still needed to clean up before I could lock up and head home. Yumi’s Da has been doing poorly and her sister finally called her up and told her to get down there before it was too late. She’d canceled her regular classes but I’d told her I could keep the place open for a few hours a day if some of her more advanced students wanted the space to train on their own. Felt like it was the least I could do, she’s broken up about the whole thing, although being Yumi she doesn’t really let it show. I know her pretty well by now, though. She was going to take the train but Wu wouldn’t hear of it. He sent her down in his airship, Sitiak in tow to see if he could help any. I’m hoping her Da pulls through but it doesn’t sound very good.

Before I left the house this afternoon I’d told LoLo not to expect me home for dinner. I figured I could dash out and get myself something but we’d gotten slammed with one of those fierce summer storms that come up out of nowhere, the kind that like to make a lot of trouble before they head on out to sea. This one came complete with some pretty impressive thunder booming through the now silent building. I was thinking I’d ride the storm out a bit before I headed home, maybe scrounge around Yumi’s cupboards, see what I could find. My car’s got a roof you can put up but it was never meant for a downpour like this one. May as well swim home, if it came to that.

I’d just finished wiping down the mats when there was a pounding at the door. I was guessing it was probably Jiahao, forgetting something, but it was Mako, soaked as anything, hunching his body over a bag in his hands, trying to keep it from getting wet.

“Shit,” I said. “Come on in.” I moved out of his way while he dripped all over the entry mat. “Let me get you a towel or something.”

“Yeah, I’m past a towel,” he said, handing me over the bag. “I think the food’s still hot, though.”

“Go get those wet things off, I’ll deal with this. How’d you know I was here?”

He kicked off his shoes, grimacing at the squelch they made as they hit the floor. “LoLo called and left a message for me at the station.” He scoffed. “I don’t think he trusted you’d get something hot to eat.”

I just grunted at that. As far as LoLo is concerned, the world would starve if he personally wasn’t feeding it. Although he wasn’t wrong about tonight.

“Everyone gone?” He eyed the door to the locker room, all the way across the dojo.

“Yeah, I’m the only one left, I was just finishing tidying up.” I peeked into the bag. Chin’s, of course. My stomach let me know that wanted some of what I was smelling and it wanted it now.

“Okay,” he said, and started stripping off his clothes. At my look he shrugged. “You really want to have to mop up behind me?”

“Fair point.” I left him to it and took out one of the boxes, sniffing at it. Komodo chicken, so that one was his. Mine was the spicy bean curd and I took a seat on the floor mat and dug in. Mako bundled his clothes under one arm and jogged his way around the perimeter of the room, dressed in nothing but his damp undershorts. Fuck me but the man has a nice body. I tried to focus on my food but I’m telling you, it was no easy thing. It’s not that I’m shy about bodies or anything but as it is I was just getting used to being able to actually touch Wu’s. I love the man, everybody knows it, but when it comes to bodies he’s slender as a reed. I’m afraid I’ll break him, you follow? Although I guess he’s tougher than he looks. We haven’t done very much since getting back from my place out in the country, just messing around like two horny teenagers with our clothes mostly on. It’s nice to be able to touch him when I want to. He gets kind of pissy if I mess up his hair, though, which I think is hilarious. Never met such a vain man in all my life, and I lived my first years in a whorehouse.

We were getting into things the other day when nobody was home but LoLo, seeing as the kids and Lin were off at Opal’s house and Mako was at work. But Wu had another one of his forsaken meetings and we lost track of time a bit and when I realized it I dragged him off my bed, told him to hurry up, we’d be late, and hustled him downstairs. LoLo came out of the kitchen, took one look at us and started snickering, damn him. Wu tried to play it off but that only made LoLo laugh even harder. He put his arm around him and said, “Wu my boy, I know this hasn’t been an issue for you before, but you might want to change before you go out because you’ve got lipstick on your collar.” Wu turned as red as my lipstick and practically took air back up the stairs while I cursed and LoLo just sat down and laughed his ass off. I’m not really used to wearing it either! By all rights I should have been pissed at LoLo for laughing at us but I’ve always found it hard to be mad at him. Besides, it was pretty funny. Next day, Lin comes up to me and says, “Little hint from me to you…wait to put your lipstick on until you’re ready to walk out the door,” and handed me a packet of blotting papers with a roll of her eyes.

Which is just their own way of telling us that they know what’s going on and that they approve. I’m glad, no point in bullshitting around and saying I don’t need their approval. Truth is, Lin and LoLo are the closest thing I’ve ever had to parents and their approval means everything to me.

I’d gone through most of my dinner by the time Mako reappeared. He’d toweled off and sort of shoved his wet hair back, wearing a pair of _gi_ trousers that were too short and fit funny in the waist. “Whose are those?” I handed over his komodo chicken.

“Korra’s. I’ll take them home and make sure they get washed, she’s not in town anyhow.” He sat down next to me and dug into his food, motioning with a chopstick. “There’s rice, too, help yourself.” I dumped about half of it into what was left of my sauce and we ate in silence. Neither Mako nor I are chatters when we eat, not that it matters. Between Wu and Zhi it’s not like the rest of us could get a word in edgewise even if we’d wanted.

Mako suddenly turned his face up towards the ceiling and closed his eyes. “Lightning’s coming,” he said, and about five seconds later it lit up the northside windows, set high up on the walls. He grinned. “Love the lightning.”

“That makes exactly one of us,” I said. I still wasn’t over that little shitstain throwing that lightning at the Butterfly last year. If I’m honest I don’t know that I ever will be. I’ve had more than one nightmare where she didn’t catch it the way she did. He didn’t say anything, just pressed his bare foot along my ankle. Knowing Mako he’s probably had his fair of nightmares about it, too. “I was going to let the storm die down a bit before I drove home,” I said, fishing out the last bits of rice. “If I had known it was going to rain like this I’d have taken Wu’s car.”

“Where are you parked?” He looked around like he was going to see it or something.

“Over at Lin’s place, inside her flat’s garage. I don’t like leaving it on the street, I spend half my time chasing people off of it.”

That got another grin out of him. “Yeah, some street rat might want to boost it, see how it runs.”

I snorted at that and aimed a lazy kick his way, which he avoided. “I just need to go through the locker room, although I think it’s pretty clean. Laundry service’ll come by tomorrow, though, so I have to make sure I’ve got their bag ready for pick up.”

“Well, if the storm doesn’t clear up by then we can take my car home. I can drop you off on my way into work tomorrow. We can ask Lin to take Naoki to school.”

“Yeah, okay.” I sat there while Mako finished his dinner and cleaned everything up, put it back in the bag, listening again as a heavy roll of thunder boomed loud enough to rattle the light fixtures. The lightning followed immediately after.

“Close,” he said. We just continued to sit there, though, not really moving, listening to the storm pick up. It was really letting us have it. I closed my eyes, and as the sky roared again a hand curled around my bare ankle, making me shiver at the feel of rough skin. Mako’s left hand. He’s never once touched me without his glove on. I opened my eyes just as the sky flashed and it blinded me for a second. I blinked a few times to clear my sight and found his mouth hovering near mine.

“Do it if you mean to, but don’t you dare walk away from me again,” I said, but I’m not sure he heard me over the drumming of the rain on the roof. I’m not sure he would have cared if he had, either, because he wasn’t stopping this time. He was kissing me before I quite knew what he was doing and there was nothing slow or gentle about it, either. I didn’t care, I wanted him as bad as he wanted me. He was spicy in my mouth, with just a hint of the ginseng candies he sucks on so Wu won’t taste the cigarette smoke. He pulled away from me, though, just as it was picking up and looked me right in the eye, so close his breath was puffing across my mouth. He’s got beautiful eyes, Mako does. The color of mandarins, shot through with bits like butter. Firebender eyes. I don’t know what roll of the dice made him as handsome as he is but he’s the best looking man I’ve ever seen, I always thought so. Don’t get me wrong, I hated him at first. I was afraid of him. Not just because he was cop but because there’s a darkness running deep in him, something he keeps pretty well hidden. Like knows like, though. I knew he was dangerous, just like he knew I was. We circled each other for a lot of years, Wu in the middle, our hackles raised. I was jealous of him, I’ll admit it. But I wanted him, bad, in a way that the kid I was then didn’t at all understand.

He was staring at me, that scarred hand still wrapped tightly around my ankle, like he was afraid I was going to run off on him. “We’re doing this,” he said, and it wasn’t a question. What was I going to tell him, no? I wanted him to burn me the fuck down. I had enough time to think about the fact that both he and his husband had their first times with me when it was raining - kind of funny, right? - but that was all I had time for because his mouth went right back on mine.

I’ve read all of the romances that Wu has on his shelf, including the ones he’s written. Whoever’s being seduced for their first time - and it’s always their first time, isn’t it? - they usually have some sort of moment where they go on about feeling fragile and full of wonder, shy or maybe overcome with desire or some such shit. Well, that’s not how I felt. I felt hot. I felt wet. I felt like I had to do something to keep from screaming, so I dug my short nails into his back and he liked that and that made me even hotter. I didn’t want him to make love to me! I wanted him to fuck me, rip me open, tear me apart, slam into me so hard I wouldn’t walk straight for a week. I didn’t want any sweetness from the man.

But that fucking Mako, he wasn’t going to give me what I wanted. He’s the kind of man who gives you what you need, so he pulled the both of us up and hauled me up into his arms and walked me across the mat to the one wall where Yumi’s got mirrors. He stood me in front of him, and then, as we were both watching, started to undo my black tunic.

“What are you doing?” I asked, but he didn’t answer me, just finished with my buttons and hauled the tunic up and over my head like I was Meili or something, just tossed it on the floor. I don’t have much at all up top - not enough to ever really bother with bindings or anything like that - and the cooler air made my nipples hard enough to cut glass. Mako smiled, though, and pulled me back into him with one hand while he ran that rough left hand over one of them.

“Sweet,” he said into my ear, and I scoffed while my body was trembling all over.

“Ain’t sweet,” I said, glaring at him in the mirror. He just kept smiling, though.

“Sweet,” he repeated, and took my earlobe in his teeth. Now, I’m not Wu, I’m not going to come just from someone putting their tongue on my ear, but I’m not going to lie and say that it didn’t rile me up more than a little. Fuck. It riled me up a lot, and I was already feeling good to go. He was watching me in the mirror, watching his own hand travel across my breasts, pulling at them, hard. He could see I liked it, he looked smug, damn him. He had me so close to him that I could feel his chest tight against my back, rising and falling as his breathing was picking up too. If he was trying to play it cool he wasn’t fooling me. His eyes were all narrowed down, his grin just a little cocky, just a little cruel. He pinched one of my nipples so hard I moaned and my back arched away from him, chasing after his fingers. He chuckled low in my ear. “Sweet.”

Me? I’m a lot of things. A killer, for one. A thief. A liar. I’ve been ruthless, been gentle, too, when the occasion called for it.

But sweet? Since when I have I ever in my whole fucked up life been sweet?

He pulled me back flush with his chest again, so tight I could feel his chest hair along my back. I could feel how hard he was through the thick material of the _gi_. He was kissing my neck, still watching the two of us. I tried to turn into him, but he wasn’t having any of that. I’m strong but he’s stronger and he just shook his head slightly and kept me where he wanted me. Normally I’d fight that - it’s just my nature, I don’t know that I’ve ever just let go of much of anything without a fight - but his hands felt so good on me that I wanted him to keep doing what he was doing. He must have realized it, because he let his good right hand take hold of my other breast and then he was tugging on both of my nipples and I swear on my dead mother that he was about to make me come right then and there, I had no fucking idea that anything could feel as good as that. I was whining, too, making this noise I couldn’t have stopped even if I had wanted to. Because he’s Mako he just yanked harder, not letting up on me. My knees were going weak by this time and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how he was doing this so damn fast. I had enough time to think _Oh fuck here it is_ and then I was thrashing against him, my knees giving out completely as he held me up. “Fuck,” he breathed into my ear and when I looked at his face in the mirror I saw he was a little shocked too.

I’m darker than he is, not as dark as Wu, of course, he’s got that beautiful brown skin. Mine tends more to sand, a kind of warm beige, and I can and do tan in the summers. I’m not really what you’d think of when you think of rosy, is what I’m saying. But my face and neck and chest had splotched all over a sort of brick color, and he was staring at it. “I’ve never seen you do that,” he said, running his fingers over it. Well, glad you’re enjoying the show, Mako, meanwhile don’t mind me, I’m just fucking dying over here. His face changed though, got smirkier, and his hand slid right on down me to go into my trousers, his fingers going right on over my clit to take a little trip inside. I let out with a little yelp - I was not expecting that, fuck me - and he pulled his hand out and stuck his finger right into his mouth. My own mouth dropped right open. Oh, the fucking nerve of the man. He closed his eyes for just a second, sucking, and then opened them again and grinned at me as he ran his wet finger across my nipple. “Sweet,” he announced, and I slammed my shoulders back into him to show him what I thought of that. He just laughed, the bastard. “Sweet little Qi,” he said, and then he took us both down to the mat, down to our knees first before laying me flat down on my back, him next to me. “Don’t believe me?”

“I ain’t sweet,” I growled again, and his answer to that was to unfasten my trousers and shove them down my hips, pulling them as well as my shorts right off of me. That’s right. The man had gotten me naked as the day I was born in about two seconds flat. And he’d already made me come. Shit. When you’re good you’re good, I guess. I tried glaring at him, but he wasn’t fooled for one second. He knew I wanted it as much as he did.

“I could eat you all night,” he said, and maybe it should have sounded like one of those ridiculous things out of a romance, but let me tell you, when a man is saying that as he’s pushing your legs apart and putting his mouth on you it goes from silly to gritty shit I’m going to soak this mat I just got finished cleaning just like that. Wu was game for trying, I will give him that, but Mako knew his way around down there.

The man never does do much of anything unless he’s good at it and obviously I don’t have a wide range of experience but he had me so jacked up I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing. I’d had to give Wu some pointers about what I liked but the man here was working me around in ways I hadn’t even known were workable, his tongue all over me. I was not even close to keeping my cool, I was trying to move all over that mat but he had a firm grip, keeping me where he wanted me. I wasn’t even sure what all he was doing down there, just that he was doing some sort of slurpy-nibbling thing that was making me babble all kinds of nonsense, begging him not to stop, my fists beating on his head, which didn’t seem to bother him in the slightest. Right as I could feel it coming again, right as I started to tighten up he pulled back to grin at me. “What the fuck!” I hollered at him, and then he slid a finger in, easy as you please, and tapped upwards with it.

“Knock knock,” he said, looking very pleased with himself. I squeaked, which is not a sound I am often known to make. I tried to scooch myself back down towards his face, but he just shook his head. “Ah-ah-ah,” he said, the same warning noise he makes at the kids when they’re acting up.

“Get on with it,” I said, but all he did was just run his tongue very slowly along me while still keeping my eyes. Oh, he was having himself a good old time. I brought my knees together and squeezed at his head. “I swear,” I said, and I wasn’t really sure what I was swearing except that I was starting to feel all snarly from getting so worked up and then just hanging there. He got the point, though, because he started stroking that finger in and out, pressing down in a place inside me I hadn’t even known I had. “Fuck,” I said, and he laughed.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for awhile,” he said. Yeah, no shit, right? He pushed my hair back a little and smiled at me. “You really are sweet.”

I shoved at his chest. “Quitcher noise, boy. I ain’t sweet.”

“Sweet as candy,” he said, letting some Dockside flavor the words. “Sweet,” he kissed me, right on my clit, “as” another one, “candy.”

I snorted, although I did like the kissing. “Ass.” He just kept smiling, though. He took in a quick breath when I stretched my leg to run my foot over that good-sized bulge in those pants, though. I’m thinking Korra never needs to know what was going on in them tonight. “Well now,” I said, because I can be sassy when I put my mind to it too, you know, “What do we have here?”

His grin got even bigger. “Why doncha put yer hand down and give it a try?”

“Dunno, old son, might be as it bites me.”

“You a coward?” He came up along my body to whisper in my ear, and his laugh was nothing more than a hot breath.

I slid my hand on in there. Oh, he’s a big one, for sure. What did I say about the man being born perfect? Far more than a handful and if he wanted in my mouth I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to manage it. But I guessed he’d be used to that. Wasn’t quite sure how I’d manage all of that inside me, either, and if you think I wasn’t thinking about that then let me set you straight right now. I wanted it inside of me, make no doubt. I gripped him hard and pulled my hand up and he hissed at me. Not so smart now, are we? He was good and wet at the tip, too, and I used my thumb to move it around that fat head of his and his breath stuttered out of him.

“Problem?” I asked, and he drew his head back to glare at me, giving me a challenge. I pulled my hand out to fumble with the ties on the _gi_ and once I had them loose enough he shoved them down, yanking them off with a little more trouble than he’d had with mine. I was about to go back in for my prize when I saw something on his skin, inked in right above where the black hair started to grow around that cock that was bobbing around, trying to make my acquaintance. I put my face a little closer to it and it surprised a laugh right out of me. It was Wu’s Hou-Ting crest, tattooed right there, claiming him for his own. “What the…” I started, and he grabbed my hand and moved it to cover it up.

“You did that,” he said, eyes drilling holes into me.

“Say what now?”

“You and that fucking white jumpsuit.” He pushed my hand back down to his dick. “I felt so damn guilty about how much I wanted you that night that I did it for Wu.”

My eyebrows went up. “Wu wanted you to do that?”

He shook his head. “No. I did it on my own.” His eyes closed as he took a deep breath through his nose. “Wu…he likes that. He likes it when I prove myself to him.”

I pumped my hand a little. “I’m guessing you like it too?”

His eyes opened again. “Yeah,” he said, and he swallowed. “Yeah, I do.”

My breathing picked up. “Like how?” My clit started throbbing, waiting to hear about this. I know they spend nights at the Four Elements hotel. I always figured it was nasty stuff they didn’t want to do at home.

His fingers dug into the meat of my ass. “I let him do whatever he wants to me.”

Now it was my turn to swallow. “Anything?”

“I have a way to make him stop if I need him to.”

My body felt like it was burning up. “Have you ever made him stop?”

He slowly drew his mouth up my jaw until he got up to my ear. “Never,” he whispered. Well, now. “The tattoo is so that he’d know I belonged to him.”

My grip tightened a little and he moaned. “Then what are you doing here with me?”

“You’re going to be a Hou-Ting too,” he said. “We both belong to him.”

“You really think I belong to him?” I asked, brushing my fingers across the tattoo. “I don’t belong to nobody.”

He was quiet for a moment, although his breathing was rough in my ear. “Then I guess I belong to you, too.”

“Is that what you want?” I asked. Some things about Mako were suddenly making a whole lot more sense to me.

There was a long pause before he whispered, “Yes,” into my ear, and then he bit down on my collarbone, sucking at me, marking me.

I didn’t know what to say to that, it was going to mean some thinking on my part that my body was not at all interested in having right then. He seemed to be fine with my not answering though, because he pulled me in good and tight so I could feel that big boy of his tucked up against my groin and belly and then did a wicked little grind against me. “Son, you really think you’re going to get that monster all up inside me?” I asked, joking but not really joking, if you catch my drift. He pulled back to meet my eyes.

“I know it’s your first time for that,” he said, turning serious. “I’ll be careful. You trust me?”

I didn’t even need to consider that. “Yeah.”

“Good,” he said, and kissed me, taking it slow, making it sweet. He wrapped one of those long legs around me and made his way down until he took a nipple into his mouth, making these little happy noises I don’t think I’ve ever heard him make before. Back and forth he went, sucking and biting, making me squirm with how hot I was getting. Next thing I knew he had a hand on me, stroking me down there but not quite where I wanted it. “Come on, then,” I said, and he didn’t say anything, just rolled over on to his back and took me with him, moving me until he had me where he wanted me, pushing down on my thighs until I was kneeling over his face. He pulled me down then, and started going to town. He had a good tight grip on my hips, his mouth going everywhere, staring up at me, looking at me like I was one of those fruit tarts he loves so much. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do with my hands but my nipples were feeling all lonesome, so I decided to give them some attention and he growled right into me. Yeah, he liked that, I could tell. So I stared right back into his eyes and started to twist and pull on my breasts, something which was getting me worked up almost as much as him. His hands slid around to cup my ass and he squeezed, hard, and pushed me a little further up. He had his tongue inside of me now and it felt so fucking good I sunk down on him without even thinking if the man needed to breathe or not. Movement caught my eye and I turned my head to see the two of us reflected in the mirror. I didn’t even recognize myself! Who was this person sitting atop this gorgeous man, all panting and moaning with their mouth open, eyes half-closed, pulling on their little titties? I looked downright sexy, for a wonder. Is this what he saw, looking up at me? 

He pulled me away, then, half of his face covered with my wet. He grinned at me and rolled me back to the floor, kissing me, getting my face wet too. I couldn’t stop touching him, couldn’t stop all of the noises I was making. A single finger slid into me, real easy-like, and my hips shot up off the floor. He explored around in there, still kissing me, grinning into my mouth. So cocky. Ah, I loved it. “More,” I managed, and then another finger slid in there. The man’s got long fingers, too. Just thought I should mention.

“That okay?” he asked me, and I managed a nod.

“You ain’t hurtin’ me,” I said, and he kissed down my throat. Those two fingers were working in and out of me and I was doing that little shimmy thing across the mat again, I couldn’t stop myself. Not that I wanted to. His scarred thumb went to my clit and started to circle it and I swear my whole body was screaming it felt so fucking good. He muttered something I didn’t quite make out and then another finger slid in, and now I was yelling I don’t even know what, getting tight all over, mostly forgetting I was supposed to be breathing, my body feeling like it was expanding, like I was going to start floating like a damn airbender or something. Without warning he pulled his fingers out of me and I lost it, started crying at him not to stop, no shame in me at all. But he had something so much better in mind, and he moved away from me, going up on his knees, and I was begging him for it, you can best believe it. I honestly don’t think he was any better, he was breathing hard, his own face flushed and I swear to you his eyes looked like they were on fire. I know what you’re thinking, but I swear it’s true.

He got himself all snug up to me, lifting one of my legs up to his shoulder so he had a little more wiggle room. “Okay,” he said, and then his cock started to slowly push into me as I held my breath, anticipating the size of it. It was a little dicey there for a minute but he was being careful and he’d gotten me so wet that pretty soon it started feeling amazing, I was so full of him and I wanted even more. I tried kicking at him with my free leg to make him go a little deeper but all he did was grin at me and grab it and hook it over his other shoulder. He just kept sliding forward slowly, stretching me out and both of us were sweating with the effort of it. I had tears in my eyes, it was so good.

“Breathe,” he reminded me, and I took a deep breath in, making him shift just a little in me and it felt like the whole world exploded and I started punching at his chest, I didn’t know what I wanted at that point, but he sure as fuck did, because he started moving just the slightest bit inside me, nice and easy, but he was so big that I could feel everything he was doing and there I was again, begging him to please go harder, but he knew what I needed more than I did and he kissed my knee and kept up what he was doing as I started to twitch, hanging on that edge. I reached down to touch myself but he knocked my hand aside, shaking his head at me, not even giving a damn when I bared my teeth at him, throbbing all over, tight and wound up, my body like an engine, screaming at me to shift gears now now now, and that’s exactly what he did, pulling almost all the way out of me before slamming himself in as deep as I could take it and that was it, my hips flew up as my back arched and my fists were banging on the floor and it was so deep, so sweet, that tears were leaking out of my eyes and I was thrashing all over, it felt like nothing had ever felt before and my body couldn’t stop, it just kept throbbing with my heart, yes yes yes. I swear I thought I was dying for a minute, I came that hard.

He didn’t wait for me to cool down before he started to move again. I tried to put my arms back around him but we were both slippery with sweat so I ended up grabbing around his neck. I hung on for dear life, my eyes closed, while he was pounding himself into me, and I thought I was all done but I wasn’t, damn the man altogether, my engine started to rev up again and he was fucking me so hard I’d find out later I had marks across my back from getting shoved across the mat. He hooked his arms under my shoulders and hauled me in as close as he could, practically laying on me, the base of that big cock of his stroking my clit in all the right ways, and I thought I was going to come again but he made a sort of strangled noise and froze up. My eyes flew open to watch his face change, feeling his body go tense over mine as he let go inside of me. Tit for tat, I always say, so before he cooled down too much I pushed myself against him, just a few little strokes against the base of his cock and that’s all it took for me to come again. Just a little one this time, the finishing touch as Wu likes to say, like when they put a curl of lemon rind atop your dinner. I peeked at Mako to see if he minded but he just had his eyes closed, taking in deep breaths, shaking more than a little now himself.

“Shit,” he said, and then, very carefully, rolled over so that I was laying atop him, him still in me. He wrapped his arms around me and we lay there for a time, both of us worn out. At some point he started slowly massaging along the back of my head with his fingers and I kissed his chest in thanks.    

Now, look. I know Mako did not show up at this dojo tonight thinking he was going to get into my pants. He showed up to bring me dinner, because he’s a considerate man that way. He’s also a man that will take an opening when he sees one, it’s what makes him such a damn good firebender. He took his shot tonight and made it his business to make sure he did a thorough job of it. That’s how he is. What I’m trying to say here is that sure, maybe it would have been nice to have done this in a bed, going slow, making something romantic of it instead of just fucking on a mat that, if I’m being honest, smelled more than a little like feet. But I’ve got no regrets. We’ll have plenty of time later to do this in all kinds of different ways, and I’m looking forward to that. But right then and there I was good with just letting him hold me, his cock getting all soft in me.

I’m not sure how long we were there, I think both of us might have dozed off a little. Eventually I forced myself to move, noting that he’d softened enough to mostly slide out of me. “Still raining,” I said.

He just grunted.

“Haven’t heard any thunder in a bit.”

“It’s moved south.”

“Ah.”

We lay there, not really looking at each other until he sighed. “I need a smoke.”

“Not in here you don’t. Yumi’d kill you.” I eased away from him, dragging myself up to sit with a bit of a groan and whistled as I saw what we’d done. “Shit son, you made a damn mess here.”

He grinned up at me. “You think that was all me?” I nudged him with my foot and he leaned up and kissed me. “Go take a shower. I’ll clean this up.”

“I can do it.”

“Yeah, I know you can. Go on. She still keep the cleaning supplies in the one closet?” At my nod he stood in a fluid motion, staring down. “Good thing the laundry’s coming tomorrow.”

I took a long enough shower that he eventually joined me in there, scrubbing himself off quickly, frowning at his still damp clothes. Nothing I could do about it for him, I wasn’t the waterbender in the family. We got dressed and he helped me tidy up the locker room and get the laundry all loaded up and ready to go.

It was still raining when I locked the front door behind us. He immediately lit up a cigarette and handed it to me before lighting up his own. We smoked for a bit under the overhang of the building.

“You want to take your car?”

I shook my head. “I’d rather not if I can still catch a ride with you.”

He just jerked his thumb. “It’s around the corner.” We both pitched our smokes into the water running along the sidewalk to the sewers and made a dash for his car. Mako’s car is a basic sedan model, painted in green and black. He uses it at work sometimes and doesn’t want to draw attention to either it or himself. He’s got a beautiful red motorbike that Asami gave him fifteen years or so back though and he babies that thing like it’s the love of his life. Not that I’m one to talk. He slid behind the wheel and I got in the passenger side. Normally I prefer to drive but he gets a little touchy about it if it’s his car, which I get. I’m the same. He started up the windshield wipers - another one of Asami’s brilliant ideas - and pulled out, heading north. Our place is across the North Bridge from downtown, this time of day we’d have about twenty-five minutes or so to get home. With a little sigh I curled up on the seat next to him and he patted his thigh, so I put my head there and he slid his fingers into my hair. “Go to sleep if you want,” he said, and then he quieted right back down. His leg was warm under the damp wool of his pants, a little too hard with muscle to be especially comfortable but I didn’t want to move away from the tenderness he was showing me.

There was a radio at the whorehouse where I grew up. One of the men had brought it in as payment when he was cash-poor and the Madam, she let the whores keep it for themselves. One of them, Blossom, she was a big pro-bending fan, she liked listening to the games in between pokes. I wasn’t allowed anywhere near the customers, but I’d sit quietly in the back of the private room where the whores hung out when they were waiting, listening to the games, eating bits of candy the customers sometimes brought and the whores would give me. I got to be a big fan. I remember him and his brother, remember when Korra started to play for them as well. That was when the Equalists were making a big scene in the city. Not that it really mattered to us. Neighborhood I grew up in, nobody had the time to bother with that kind of shit, everybody’s too busy just trying to live to see the next day. Worrying about whether or not benders have it better doesn’t really apply. Everybody had it better than we did. But I knew who he was. Move along a few years to when he took me to the station, it didn’t click, not even when Wu called him by name. But Wu took me home that first day, took me into the kitchen where LoLo took one look at my scrawny ass and immediately sat me down and fed me, never mind that I’d just had a meal at the station. We went for a drive in his car - oh, that pretty yellow Satomobile - and came back and he took me for a tour around the family wing of the house. And there, hanging up on the wall in the living room, in a place of honor, was a Fire Ferret poster, all nicely framed. That’s when it clicked for me that he was that Mako, the handsome firebender that so many people sighed over, the friend to the Avatar, the guy who had took down the Colossus. In my mind, he was far more a celebrity than Wu ever was. It’s not like I had a good working knowledge of the Earth Kingdom! I surely had never bothered about their King. We had dinner that night, sitting in the kitchen, me still in my rags, Wu talking to me like I wasn’t trash off the street, me admiring Naoki’s pretty dress and the bows in her hair, Mako looking at me like he was just waiting for me to fuck up so he could toss me out on my ass. I was just about to turn fourteen. I would have laid down in the street and let Wu step all over me if he had wanted to. But Mako? He scared the shit out of me. Not just because he could have killed me with a flick of his hand, although that was part of it. He scared me because he was a celebrity, larger than life, one of my heroes in the flesh, glaring at me across the table.

I came out of my doze as he put the car into park. “We’re home,” he said, cupping my head and running his thumb along my neck. “Let me go and open the garage door.” I sat up and shook myself a bit.

“No, I got it.” I jumped out, glad to see the rain had stopped up here. I let him in and closed the door behind him, waiting for him to hop out of the car. We walked together into the entrance that led into the kitchen, trying to be as quiet as possible. It was later than I thought. LoLo had left a light on for us and as we kicked off our shoes in the entryway he poked his head around the corner, dressed in his caftan, his hair braided back for the night.

“You two get some dinner?” he asked, keeping his voice low.

“Yeah, I stopped off at Chin’s,” Mako said.

LoLo nodded. “Well, I saved a bit of duck in the icebox just in case.” He smiled. “Goodnight, then.” We said our goodnights as well and he went back into his room.

“I need to get these wet things off.”

“Yeah,” I said. We stood there in the kitchen for a minute before heading out, down the hall to the big staircase, walking up together, not saying anything. Second floor and he stood there awkwardly for a moment before nodding at me and turning to go into his and Wu’s bedroom. I walked up the next flight to where my room is. I half-expected Wu to be in his office across from me, but he wasn’t. He must have already gone to bed, then. I shucked off my clothes and hung them up before putting on a pair of sleeping trousers and an undershirt, brushing my teeth.

My room was very quiet.

I crawled into bed and turned off my bedside lamp, laying there in the summer darkness. I wasn’t really sleepy any longer. Truth be told, I was feeling like I might cry, which was just foolishness. What did I have to cry about? Nothing, that’s what. Still, my throat was aching with it, and the first hot tear had rolled down my face when I heard my door open. “That you, baby?” I called. Sometimes Meili likes to come up and sleep with me.

“No, it’s me,” Mako said, standing in the door between my sitting room and my bedroom. I sat up. I couldn’t see him very well.

“What you need?”

He sighed and walked forward, putting his hand out. “Come on.”

“Come on what?” I didn’t know what he wanted from me.

“Don’t sleep up here tonight. Come down with me.”

“Come down with you where?” I thought he meant down to the living room or something, couldn’t figure out what he was going on about.

“To our bedroom.” He waved his hand impatiently.

“You want me to go and sleep in your bed with you? Where’s Wu?”

“In bed, where else would he be?” He sighed again and reached forward to grope for my hand. “Come on.”

“But this is my bed.”

“We can figure it out later. I just…I don’t want to lay awake all night thinking about you up here all alone. Not after what we just did.”

My mind was racing along. “What about Wu?”

“Wu won’t care.”

I frowned. “You sure about that?”

“Would I be up here if I wasn’t?” Well, I had to give him that, Mako’s not one to just guess at something and hope for the best. So I swung myself out of bed and followed him back down the stairs, him in nothing but a pair of his shorts again. He let us into his bedroom and closed the door quietly behind us. He led me by the hand to the bed and crawled into the middle, holding up the covers and patting at the empty space next to him. It’s a big bed.

I still wasn’t sure, but I settled down and he made one of his all is well with the world kind of grunts, tugging the thin blanket over me. I lay there on my back, trying to figure out what, exactly, I was doing there.

“Mako?” Wu’s voice was groggy. “Are you home?”

“Yeah. Go on back to sleep.”

“Is Qi home?”

“Yeah. Right here on the other side of me, actually.” There was a long silence and then the bedclothes rustled as Wu sat straight up, hand sliding across Mako to land on my arm.

“Qi? Is that you?”

“Uh-huh,” I managed to get out. I was so nervous I felt sick with it. Wu just patted me, though.

“Lovely,” he murmured, and then took his hand away, laying back down. “Does Qi have a pillow?”

“Yeah, one of mine.”

“Did you put your salve on?”

“I got it covered.”

Wu yawned audibly. “Mmmmmm,” was all he said before shifting a bit, finally getting comfortable again. Mako found my hand under the covers and squeezed it. I squeezed back and waited for him to fall asleep, which he eventually did, his hand going slack in mine. I lay there for a time, thinking it all over, noticing the different ways my body was a little sore, trying to wrap my head around what had all just gone on. Their bed smelled a bit like jasmine, a bit like the herbal stuff Mako puts on his scars, more than a bit of two men, asleep. Their windows faced the front of the house instead of the back, like mine, and the moonlight was in all the wrong places for this time of night, throwing me off a little. Mako slept heavily, hardly moving, his breathing deep and even. Wu, like he had at my lodge, tossed and turned, murmuring in his sleep, restless.

I must have fallen asleep eventually, because the next thing I knew the bedroom was full of light and there was Wu, hair a mess of curls, glasses in their usual place on his nose, moving in and out of his forms. Mako was still asleep. I watched him until he’d finished, holding his last pose for several long minutes. He saluted the sun and then looked down at me, his smile looking like the sunrise itself. “Good morning, my love,” he said, and when I smiled in return, he winked at me. “I told you he was spectacular.” His eyes laughed at the look on my face and he did that sassy little walk he does when he’s pleased with himself straight into the bathroom, disappearing inside. A second later a long brown hand appeared in the doorway and two fingers gave me the royal order to join him. I slid out of the bed and walked into the bathroom to find him sitting on the counter, looking like the cat that ate the cream. “Close the door behind you, my darling, and tell me every single delicious detail.”

Shaking my head at the nerve of the man, I did what he asked and put myself between his legs, pulling him close to me as he wrapped them around the back of my thighs. “What do you want to know, you nosy old biddy?” I asked him before biting down on his earlobe, enjoying how he shook in my arms.

This was going to be fun.


End file.
